


Jeweled Spirits

by DragonRose35



Series: The Spirit Chronicles [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, Blood, Character Death, Crossdressing, English Story, F/M, Happy Ending, Hetero Romance, High School, Hinted Mature Themes, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Male Slash, Non-Accurate Japanese Setting, Original Character(s), Romance, Violence, dark themes, mature language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-08-16 10:59:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 22
Words: 95,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8099581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonRose35/pseuds/DragonRose35
Summary: Ame was just your run of the mill average teenager until he found out something that changed his life forever: he’s a Spirit. Of course, with a past unknown to himself, and aspects of his life that always cast him out from others, he figured he was different; but different as in ‘changing with the shout of your gem’s name’?That was new.Now he’s thrown into a situation that endangers his life more than he could ever think possible and he must find the other Spirits, stop the demons threatening to take everything he knows away, and save their home from Kiseichu running around the town.But the real question is, will it all be too much for him to handle?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hey guys~ So... I'm finally putting up an old novel of mine on here. *chuckles* It's a long time coming but... *shrugs* Anyway, I wrote this four years ago- wow, has it really been that long?- and only recently just got around to editing the... terribly written plot and awful grammar of it all! *laughs*
> 
> It's all better now so I hope it isn't a total waste of your time! *grins*
> 
> Enjoy~
> 
> ~ D.C.

My name is Ame and I’m a sixteen year old boy with short, messy, dark brown hair and eyes colored like gold. I’m also part of a group of heroes known as the Jeweled Spirits.

They’re a group of teens like me who team up together to fight off things called Kiseichu sent to do the dirty work by a group of demons from a different dimension. We know them as the Black Demons, but I don’t know what others call them anymore. The only things that tell us apart from normal humans are our marks, sort of like tattoos or birthmarks that are located somewhere on our bodies. We can change when we call out our stones name; from a human to… something more. We each have our own gemstones: Ruby, Amethyst, Diamond, Jade, Sapphire, Pearl, and my own, Onyx.

I don’t really want to give away too much information, since it might spoil some things, but I will say this: this story isn’t what you think it will be. Hearts are found and broken, friendships are formed and lost, and battles are waged that change our lives. But, truth be told, everything that happens… if I had the chance to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.


	2. Chapter 1

I watched, bored out of my mind, as my cousin, Suta, roamed around the clothing store. She was a major freak when it came to clothes, jewelry, etc; you know, things lots of girls obsess about. Yawning, I watched as she went up to some dresses, looking them over with an excited sparkle in her pretty, pale blue eyes.

“Ame!” Suta gasped, “Can I have this one? Oh please!?” She held up a short red dress with fluff on it, after brushing a strand of her blonde hair from her face. I never understand why she didn’t just put it all in a ponytail, at least then she she’d stop messing with it.

I thought for a moment and then nodded, shrugging. “I did say I’ll buy you anything you want, Suta.” I sighed and she nearly squealed, almost bouncing on her feet. She grabbed the dress off of the rack and went to look at the skirts next.  _ How did I get myself mixed up in all this? _ I questioned to myself, rolling my eyes and looking out the windows of the store.

I had wanted to avoid my cousin the entire week she was staying here in Kazanai. But I guess I’d ran out of luck, as usual, so now I have to literally pay for it by buying her anything she wants.  _ What? Do I look like I’m made out of money? _

“Hurry up Suta, the train for the Misuto Water Park is about to leave.” I groaned, looking back at her, frowning. I really wanted to go to the water park when it first opened. That’s the entire reason why I wanted to avoid her, so I didn’t have to get held back; she’s so selfish, annoying, and loud, I can’t stand to be around her.

“Too bad Ame! I don’t want to go,” she huffed out, sticking her tongue out at me. See? What an annoying, self-centered, spoiled, little brat!

I scowled at her, turning my head away, making a frustrated noise as I did, “Why do you always have to ruin my fun whenever you’re here!?” I ground out, and I hate to admit that my voice came out with a tiny bit of a whine near the end, and she giggled, actually  _ giggled _ , at me.

“Maybe when you get to be older, you can make your own decisions like me.” she said.

I growled at her when she finished the sentence. “I’m sixteen, Suta! You’re only two years older than I am; yet, you make me pay for the stuff you want.” I shook my head and huffed out a heavy sigh. You know, sometimes, I  _ really _ hate my life.

“So?” she questioned cockily and I sighed again in defeat. “Next I want to go to the new jewelry store that just opened up!” She practically purred when she said this, as I paid for the things she picked out here: the stupid little red dress, a black jacket, and two sickeningly colorful skirts.

“I’ve already spent over two hundred dollars on you, can’t we-”

“Nope,” she cut me off, and I held back the urge to glare at her, “I said I want to go to the jewelry store!” Her voice ended in a high pitched, annoying little whine and I shrank back, grimacing.

“Fine! We’ll go to the damn jewelry store!” I growled out and she grabbed my hand. No sooner did she do this, was she dragging me off to yet another store where I will have to spend even more money on her.

When we got to the store, we went inside and for once, I was actually kind of amazed by the stuff they had here. They had all kinds of different necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and even several different kinds of gemstones that each had their own unique value. I shrugged to myself, thinking ‘what the hell,’ and turned my attention to a rack filled with gemstones and looked at them. The one that caught my attention was a shiny little black gem, obsidian or onyx. I never could tell the difference with those two; they were both black, anyway.

“Neat.” I smiled a little before looking back at Suta, who was now looking through the racks that held the necklaces on them. “Suta,” I spoke up and she made a little non-committal noise in the back of her throat and I almost rolled my eyes, but continued talking, nonetheless, “do you want to go to the Genseki Museum after this?” I finished, once again shrugging, and she immediately looked up, a wide smile on her face and a sparkle in her eyes.

“Really? Can we go now, Ame? Please!” she pleaded and I barely managed to hide a smirk at this.  _ Hook, line, and sinker. _ I snickered quietly,  _ What an easy catch, she is; well, for the most part anyway… _

“Sure.” I shrugged, playing up the fact that I didn’t so much care, and reached out to grab her hand before making our way out of the store and to the museum.

It was actually a bit of a long walk to the museum, but it was most definitely worth it. When we got there, I paid for tickets and we went to see all sorts of exhibits. They had some extinct animals on display, all sorts of cool Egyptian stuff were out for show, and they had so many children play areas too; even some places where teens like Suta and I could go to hang out. There was also a planetarium, but Suta wasn’t so much interested in that, so we didn’t go.

It was maybe a few hours later when we were done looking around and we exited the museum, making our way to the café that was nearby.

“You know,” I started, frowning a little, my thoughts in disarray. “I couldn’t help but get the feeling that someone was watching us, back at the museum.” I murmured and Suta laughed, shaking her head after.

“Well of course silly, they have security cameras everywhere,” she said and I looked down for a few moments before dismissing the thoughts in my head.

“Yeah, I guess that could be the case.” I mumbled with a light shrug and she offered a smile as we walked to the café, going to the counter to order us food.

After, she returned to the table with our food and we ate quietly for a few minutes before she checked her watch. “Oh, sorry Ame, I have to go. Auntie will get mad if I’m late... again.” she sighed and got up, discarding her trash before waving ‘goodbye’ as she left. I waved back and then sighed in relief, getting up soon after, throwing away my own trash.

“Goodbye Suta.” I chuckled and walked down to the lake. I took my usual spot in the grass, a bit away from the fence that circles half the lake, and sat down. “What a wonderful day to take a nap,” I smiled and laid down, straightening the bandages on my forehead when I felt them move a bit.

You see, I have this strange mark on my forehead; a black paw print, I think. I don’t know what it’s for and I don’t know how it got there; I don’t even know when, since I don’t remember anything beyond my tenth birthday when my parents died. Maybe it’s been there my whole life? But whatever the case, it was strange and not normal, so I covered it up with bandages. Seemed to do the trick for me, so I never bothered to do anything different.

After getting comfortable, I closed my eyes.

_ After what felt like a few minutes, I began hearing a weird buzzing noise, kinda like a bee and I tensed, letting out a startled gasp before sitting upright, looking around when I opened my eyes. But what I found… wasn’t what I was expecting.  _ Why is the sky red!? _ “Okay, that’s definitely not normal.” I huffed out, standing up quickly, looking around once more. _

_ I found that no one was around, and I frowned in confusion.  _ How long had I closed my eyes? There were people around when I walked down here… wasn’t there? _ I turned back towards the café and nearly froze, my eyes still wide, when I saw a man, tall, with brown hair, and he was looking right at me. _

Is this a dream? _ “Who is... that...?” I bit out, groaning when I felt a sharp pain to my head and I raised a hand to hold it, stumbling back a little, trying to keep from falling when a sharp wave of nausea hit me. “What the hell is going on?” I managed to get out, before falling over, my world becoming nothing but darkness. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

I woke up in the middle of the night, still lying beside the lake like how I was when I had... fainted?  _ What happened…? _ I didn’t understand any of what I saw.

I sat up and held my head... only to find that the bandages were no longer there. I frowned in confusion, opening my eyes, and I rubbed at my forehead absently while looking around once more. I remembered the strange looking man at the café and turned my head a little towards the café, only to see that the man wasn’t there any longer.

“Maybe I really had dreamt all that up, I mean it is possible. I had closed my eyes for a few minutes, I think… and maybe...” I trailed off, shaking my head when I realized how ridiculous I was being. Of course it had all just been a dream.

I stood up and regained my bearings before deciding to walk to the nearby park where my treehouse was. It was kinda my home, for the most part; even though I had an aunt who said I was welcome whenever I wanted to stay at her house. I got to the tree and climbed it with ease; something that I’ve always been able to do, for as long as I can remember. It was just one of the many things that outcasted me from others; not that I minded, or cared.

Sighing softly, I walked to the small ‘bed’ that rested along the wall farthest from the entrance and laid down in it. “This will all be better as soon as Monday comes.” I murmured, smiling as I thought of why: “I can’t wait for school to start.”

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ “Do you think he was one of them?” A brown haired man entered the dark room and looked to an older man with blonde hair. _

_ “There is no doubt about it. He’s the missing link to the Onyx gem and to the other six members.” the blonde answered and the brunette scoffed. _

_ “I don’t see what’s so special about that one. He just seems like a loose thread to me.” he mumbled bitterly and the blonde chuckled. _

_ “Patience Hai, you’ll see soon enough.” Hai eyed the blonde skeptically and then sighed and admitted defeat. _

_ “Fine Doreiku.” he said before looking up at the computer screen. “But you said the Onyx gem is the key to saving us and our planet, can he really be the one we’ve been looking for all this time: a little kid?” _

_ Doreiku only nodded, not saying anything else to Hai. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

I woke up sharply to a nut falling on my head from it bouncing off the window sill of the treehouse and I growled. “Hey, watch where you’re dropping those nuts!” I growled at the squirrel and it chirped angrily back at me. I huffed and got up, stretching out before walking over to the entrance and I jumped down from the treehouse.

After that, it was an easy morning, walking from the park and to Suta’s house.

Like I said, her aunt, or rather, our aunt, Aunt Jeimi won’t mind me going there without any notice, so that’s what I do, sometimes anyway. Getting there, I walked inside and looked around. The house she owned was huge because Jeimi was the boss of Doragon Industries; meaning she earned big bucks every year.

With a soft sigh, I walked to the stairs. “Aunt Jeimi, can I use the shower and borrow some clothes for the day?” I raised my voice so the woman could hear me and lucky me, she was actually home.

I heard her laugh from inside her room and she called back down to me. “Oh sweetie, you know that I don’t mind if you do. You can borrow some of Makkusu’s clothes.” she answered and I smiled before going down to the laundry room. I grabbed a purple short sleeved shirt and some normal jeans for school and then went up to the downstairs bathroom to shower.

After the shower, I got dressed and looked at myself in the mirror. Grabbing Makkusu’s brush, I went ahead and brushed through my own hair, thinking about the shower. Turns out today is one of those days where my body decided it didn’t like the water so much. I never understood it, but sometimes on off days, I guess, I never liked showers or water in general. Everyone tells me it was the same when I was little, on some days, I would love the bath, but on others, I hated it and no one ever knew why.

I put the brush down and sighed, picking up a spare toothbrush and brushed my teeth, carefully going over my canines. My balance, the fact that I’m athletic, the weird thing with water, that fact that I adore meat, and my canines… I swear, one would think I was a cat if I wasn’t human. But I guess you can add that to the long list of strange things about me.

After getting refreshed, I left the house with a small ‘thanks’ to Jeimi and headed off to the school.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

It was always a twenty or so minute walk to the school, a few miles from the central park and a little longer from Aunt Jeimi’s house. I always walked; never really felt like getting a ride to the school and I didn’t have a bike to ride. After about ten minutes of the usual walk there, I came to a semi-busy street with a lot on my mind; including last night and that strange man that I saw by the café.

Even though I’d already determined it to be a dream, it still bugged me, since it was so life-like.

_ Who was that man and why was he staring at me? And why in the hell had I passed out? And why was the sky red? And what was that strange buzzing noise? _ All of these questions raced through my mind and I’d been so lost in thought that I didn’t realize that someone was shouting at me.

“Dude! Get the hell out of the street!” I heard the voice that time and lifted my head quickly to see a blonde kid, about my age, staring at me and then I saw a flash of red coming at me from the corner of my eyes. That was the moment I realized I was in the middle of the street and for a moment I was paralyzed with fear.

The car beeped as it sped towards me and my eyes widened, the loud honk breaking me from whatever ‘spell’ I was under and I acted faster than I ever had before.

I jumped out of the way of the car, doing a sharp front flip in the air. I made it to the sidewalk, upside down, still in the air, and I reached my hand out to push up on the concrete and righted myself. I landed on my feet in the grass, with a tiny stumble, and stared out into the street in a daze.  _ What… what the hell…? _

“Damn kid!” I heard the driver growl and I blinked at him and his car, watching as they sped out of view.

“Hey, are you alright? What the hell was that? Are you some kind of gymnast?” I turned my head then and saw the kid, the one that warned me about the car, run up to me and I finally let out the breath I hadn’t known I was holding in.

“Yeah I-I’m fine...” I mumbled and then added in a quick harsh voice, “and no, I’m not a gymnast.” I growled slightly at him and he waved his hands in front of him in defense.

“Hey, alright, sheesh… it was just a question. Anyway,” he held his hand out for me to shake, “the name is Sesu.” he said as I reluctantly did so, shaking his hand just to really be polite.

“Ame.” I mumbled and he smiled wide.

“Nice name.” he chuckled. “So, where you headed?”

“Nishi High.” I said, his smile becoming impossibly wider.

“Same here! You want to walk together?” he asked and I shrugged, nodding my head at the same time.  _ May as well, _ I thought with a wry smile back at Sesu.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

It wasn’t much longer, about ten to fifteen more minutes, until we got to the school. Nishi High was a large black and brown building with the standard large courtyard, the beautiful, well-kept gardens, the dormitory beside the school, and the large fountain in the middle of the courtyard. Sesu and I walked inside after exploring around and when we did, we saw several students next to the side wall, around a bunch of boxes attached to said wall. I saw some letters above each of the boxes and walked to the box that had the letters ‘Am’ above it and easily found my paper. Sesu walked to the box that had the letters ‘Se’ above it and got his own paper.

_ What a strange system… _ I thought, shaking my head as I glanced down at my paper. On it, I saw my schedule, lunch number, locker number, locker combo, and unsurprisingly a dorm number.

“Attention students. Today, since it is in fact the first day of school, we would like to inform to you that it will be spent as a free day to get to know your roommates. Enjoy, and have a fun year at Nishi High School.” The loud speakers said and I barely managed to tone down my smirk to a smile.

_ Perfect, an actual chance to continue a little project I started called: my nap. _ With these thoughts, I made my way out of the school and headed around to the dorm rooms. Getting there was easy, getting through the crowd of students already there was a bit more difficult, but I managed and no sooner had I gotten to the dorms, did I find my room: 26B. I walked inside, with a tiny sigh of relief, happy to be away from all the others that were staying in the dorms. Eventually, I decided to quit standing around and I lifted my head, looking around the room. I snorted with mild amusement, finding that it was just a standard dorm room: four beds, two closets, two dressers, a couple of lamps and a small bathroom.  _ Great, so that means I share the room with three others… _ I sighed softly but shrugged the annoyance away and went ahead and chose the bed I wanted, marking it as my own by falling onto it; I chose the bed farthest from the door and closest to the left wall, nearest to the single window that looked out onto the school gardens.

Room 26B was on the second floor of the boys’ dormitory. It was simple and quiet, for the most part, and really, I could barely hear the chatter outside. I liked it.

Finally discarding my thoughts, I closed my eyes, hoping for a few hours of peace and quiet for my nap. No sooner had I felt myself drifting off, did I hear the door being opened and I groaned, throwing an arm over my face when I heard a familiar voice.

“So, this is room 26? Heh, I quite like it.” Sesu chirped, loudly, and I opened one eye to look at him, the eye narrowed as I sighed. He looked at me when I did and his smile grew impossibly wide once more, “Hey Ame! Who knew we’d be roommates!”

“Hi Sesu.” I mumbled and he chuckled, no doubt amused, as I closed my eyes again, trying to get to sleep once more. I heard some rustling and the sound of footsteps and figured he was picking out his bed; hearing them much closer to me, I only guessed he chose the bed next to my own. I was kinda glad that the beds were kinda separated by dressers.

It was minutes after, when I thought that I’d finally get some rest, that the door opened again and unfamiliar voices filled the room, though one was a bit softer than the other.

“Joshu, are we in the right room?” The younger, softer voice spoke, followed by an older, deeper sounding chuckle.

“Yes Sami. This is the right dorm room.” Finally deciding I wasn’t going to get anymore rest, I sat up and looked up at the two. I admit, I was a bit surprised when I did; I saw a kid, about mine and Sesu’s ages with brown hair and then another little kid, probably younger than us though I don’t know by how much, with blonde hair.

“Oh! So you two must be our roommates!” Sesu grinned and jumped up from his bed, walking over to the two and he held his hand out towards the older brunette. “My name is Sesu!” he was practically beaming with giddiness, I could tell, when Joshu shook his hand. “And my friend over here,” he pointed to me then and my eyes narrowed once more, “is Ame, though I don’t know if you’ll get much from him right now.”

I glared at him and fell back against the pillow, groaning.  _ Damn them… _ I growled in my head when I heard them all laugh, and I rubbed a hand over my face, puffing out a heavy sigh as I sat up once more.

“Well my name is Joshu, and this here, is my little brother-” the brunette, Joshu, was cut off by the blonde, who had bright, wide eyes that practically shone with excitement.

“Samyueru!” he said excitedly, and then added, “Or Samu.” I couldn’t help the smile that formed on my face, from the kids’ enthusiasm and I chuckled when he smiled back at me.

“It’s nice to meet you both.” I said, deciding to play along, and yawned a little, watching as the other two picked out their beds and got settled into the room. And for the next hour or so, we talked and got to know one another; we also played a few games, like twenty questions, would you rather, and I spy on Samyueru’s request.

It wasn’t really too long after that we all started to get bored, so I suggested something for us to do: “Do you guys want to go to the Misuto water park?” I questioned, shrugging my shoulder with a miniscule smile when Samu immediately perked up.

“I do! I do! I love waterparks!” he nearly jumped up and down on his spot on his bed and we all laughed, his giddiness nearly contagious, it seemed.

“I guess I’ll go since Sami wants to.” Joshu said, his laughter dying down to a chuckle and he reached over to ruffle Samyueru’s hair, nearly falling off the bed when the blonde swatted at his hand, pouting.

“I’m definitely in! I love anything with water.” Sesu said and punched the air, grinning wide, his eyes sparkling with the thought.  _ Is there anytime at all that Sesu doesn’t grin like an idiot? _ I thought, mildly amused as I looked around at the others.

“Alright then,” I started, standing up, followed by the others, and I stretched my arms out, “but I have to buy some trunks because I don’t have any.” Sesu rubbed the back of his neck a little, sheepish, and my attention was turned to him as I frowned, raising an eyebrow at him. “Do you?”

“Well,” he began, biting his lip, and I rolled my eyes, before he continued, “I need a pair as well, but I don’t have any money for one.” he admitted and I sighed, running a hand through my hair.  _ I pay for all of Suta’s things, I guess I can spare money for a simple pair of swimming trunks for Sesu… _

“I guess I can buy a pair for you, too” I said and then looked at Joshu, tilting my head in question.

“Nah, we already have some.” When the brunette said this, waving his hand and shrugging, I sighed in relief and smiled once more.

“Okay then,” I chuckled, “let’s go!”


	3. Chapter 2

When we left the school, we went ahead to the shopping center, to one of the only shops that had swimsuits and I bought me and Sesu a pair for the water park. The ones I got for myself, which were fairly cheap, were black with a white design at the bottom and Sesu’s own was green with a picture of a dude on a surfboard on them. There had been a few others that Sesu wanted, by finally after some prompting from myself, he just picked those and we were finally able to leave.

We met Samyueru and Joshu at the train station, the quickest way to get to the fairgrounds and since the water park was just a street away from them, the train was the brightest idea any of us had. I bought the tickets for the train ride and it was about fifteen minutes later when we came to the fairgrounds. Walking to the water park, I paid the entrance fee for us, getting all four of us water proof bracelets in the process, and finally we were able to go in and we all dressed in our trunks, in the locker rooms.

“I’m heading over to the pool.” I told them, eyeing the pool, since it was mostly empty, but my attention had been turned to Sesu once more, as the blonde grinned.

“I’m not.” he practically purred, “I’m going straight to the water slide!” he beamed, laughing when Samu agreed, nodding his head up and down eagerly.

“Me too!” Samu barely gave any of us a chance to respond, as he took off, running to the slide, followed soon after by Joshu and Sesu. I watched them go with a smile and headed over to the pool, really glad it was empty. It was rarely empty, but because the slide is new, everyone is wanting to try it out, rather than spend their time swimming around the ‘boring’ calm waters.

I decided to jump into the pool by the diving board and dived under for a few seconds before surfacing, shaking my head. This was, apparently, one of those times I really liked the water, and for this, I was glad. Swimming around for a few minutes, I turned my back from the slide, a little annoyed from the scream of excitement and glee as kid after kid after adult after kid slid down it, jumping into the other pool on the other side of the water park. After for a few, peaceful, minutes, everything seemed perfect…

…until I dunked my head in the pool and came back up. I heard more screaming, but it most definitely wasn’t the kind you let out from the thrill of a water slide such as that one. No, you let this one out when you see something incredibly scary and most probably dangerous.

Opening my eyes, I looked around to see many people running from the pools and the slide; among them were Sesu, Samyueru, and Joshu. I swam closer to the edge of the pool, frowning in confusion when I saw them.  _ What’s going on? _ I question in my head. It wasn’t until I heard a loud, sharp hiss behind me that I realized what was going on. Turning around sharply, my eyes widened when I saw an amazingly large snake looming behind me, half out of the water, it looked like. Now you see, I wasn’t the smartest kid in class, or in science, but I definitely knew, without a doubt, that this snake, was one not to be tangled with: a Banded Sea Snake, one of the most poisonous water snakes in the world and  _ fuck _ I was in huge trouble!

It was when the snake hissed again, baring long, sharp fangs, that I finally snapped out of my frozen stance, and I turned back towards the edge, quickly scrambling to get out. The snake, most probably about fifty feet, maybe longer, was right on my heels though, darting forward when I tried to leave the park, and it cut off my exit, large blood red eyes narrowed and slitted dangerously. It’s long, pink tongue flicked out with a strange sound and I gulped, my breath coming out in sharp, heavy pants, as I backed away and spun on my heels, taking off down the concrete and to the back entrance of the water park.

“Fuck!” I cursed aloud, shaking my head sharply as I stumbled a few times. The snake, from what I heard, was following after me, the water sloshing over the edges and to the sides of the pool as it did and I couldn’t believe what was happening. I was still trying to gather my thoughts, piecing the broken pieces together, when I tripped, falling flat on my face,  _ Ow! Fuck! That hurt! _ Sitting up, I looked down and realized exactly what I tripped on: a noodle…  _ I tripped on a fucking noodle!? _ I though, angered and frightened, and cursing myself now for being so stupid. Getting up slowly, I rubbed at my face, gritting my teeth together, wincing from the stinging pain. Hearing another dark hiss, I turned sharply, falling back on my bottom, and I flinched when I realized the snake was still here.  _ Well, at least I now know this isn’t a nightmare! _ I tried getting up, but I fell back onto my ass when the snake snapped its head forward, the force of the blow, when its jaws clamped around thin air, knocked me back and for a few quick heartbeats, I thought this was it.  _ I’m going to die! _

Closing my eyes tightly, I waited for my impossible doom, but nothing came and it was only then that I felt arms around me and I panicked, unsure what was happening. Snapping my eyes open, I gaped, unable to believe who it was, when I recognised my savior to be the man from my dream.  _ But… was it really a dream? I mean… he’s here, I see him, he’s real… _ I was so confused, but for the moment, I couldn’t even think about that.

I was most certainly not one to be man-handled, nor was I a god-damn fucking princess!

“Hey! Let go of me…!” I growled and narrowed my eyes at him as I struggled to get from his grip. With a sigh that sounded annoyed, he finally set me down, and I realized then where we were: on top of the tallest water slide in the park. I shivered when I heard another hiss and saw the snake, below us, glaring at the man and I. Turning my attention to the man once more, I backed away from him, keeping my balance quite well on the thin metal beam. “Alright spill it! I know you have answers for me! What the hell is going on here and what the hell is that thing!?” I snapped; my body was tense with confusion and frustration and fear and anger, all bubbling inside of me.

I watched as he looked down at the snake before turning his gaze to me, his eyes narrowed and I was startled to realize I couldn’t tell at all what he was feeling, as not a single emotion was found in them. It unnerved me. “Alright fine.” He started, his voice deep and his tone quick and sharp, “I’ll make this simple and short. You have what is known as a Gem Soul. And that thing down there is a Kiseichu; a dark creature that is under the control of a group of demons.” He tried to explain what was going on, but I didn’t understand any of what he was saying. I was so confused, staring at the man like he was an alien from outer-space.  _ Demons?! Kiseichu!? What the fuck is he talking about!? What the hell is a Gem Soul!? _ All of these questions ran through my head, just then, and I saw as he shook his head, looking annoyed now. “Look, I’ll answer your questions later.” he snapped and grabbed my hand, shoving something smooth, black, and shiny in it. “Onyx!” he shouted and in that instant a pale black aura surrounded me.

I closed my eyes tightly, nearly choking on my breath, as I felt a weird sensation go through me, a chill running up my spine as the weight in my hand disappeared. “W-what-!?” I tried to get out the question, to ask what the hell just happened, and when I opened my eyes, all I saw was him looking at me expectantly, as I if I should know what to do. I didn’t; all I knew was that something changed and when I looked down, I knew exactly what that something was.

My entire appearance changed, as far as I can tell. I now wore black jeans with golden designs on them, rather than my swim trunks, and my once shirtless torso now had a black short sleeved mini shirt on it, much to my extreme embarrassment. I noticed, along with the ‘shirt’ I now wore a black and white mini jacket with a gold design. Along with the change in outfit, I saw that I now wore black shoes and black gloves, each with golden markings like my new clothes. I didn’t know what else had changed, but a quick check allowed me to know that my hair, a once dark chocolate brown, was now a pitch black color. Upon my forehead, I felt a heavier weight, and I knew then that my bandages were no longer there, but instead replaced with something else, though I was most unsure what with.

Something more, that likely would have made me panic had I not been on top of a seventy foot slide, with a giant snake beneath my feet, was that I noticed a curious thin, black furred, long tail behind me and I knew, with a tail, most likely came ears.  _ Fuck… _ I thought, eyes wide, staring at the man, my hands cupping my ears, as if to hide them. “W-what the hell just happened!? Why do I have ears and a tail!? How did… why did my clothes change and why this of all things!? Why not a normal jacket and shirt!?” My voice was very clearly a high-pitched whine and the man grimaced, though his eyes were still narrowed.

“Like I said, you have a Gem Soul, and your gem is Onyx.” he said while pointing to my forehead.  _ Onyx… an Onyx is on my forehead…? What… oh, okay, I think… my bandages were replaced by a band of sorts, I’m most sure. _

I kept quiet, as my thoughts raced, but it was then that I saw the snake once more and my eyes widened when I realized that my previous guess of it’s size was way off. The snake had to have been at least double the size I’d thought, perhaps less than triple. Stumbling back, I clenched my fists, unsure what to do now.

“Call out your weapon now!” The man spoke quickly and I stared at him with wide confusion and panic.

“What do I say!?” I was horrified that my voice barely came out a sharp squeak, but I didn’t focus on that as I jumped out of the way when the snake lunged. I jumped down onto the main part of the slide, sliding down it as easily as one could with shoes, from the water.

“Call out the first words that pop inside your head!” I heard him say and I felt my ears twitch as I searched my mind for words that made sense. Seconds after, I finally decided to try my luck with something.

“Onyx Blade!” I shouted and held out my hand; in an instant a wide, sharp, longsword appeared in my hand. The entire sword was completely black with small, thin golden designs on the blade; the grip was leather with an Onyx gem on the bottom tip. It was a perfect match for what I called out, I realize; but the awe is short lived when I nearly stumble and fall, when the slide shook as the snake collided with it, fangs snapping around thin air once more when I jumped out of the way.

The snake hissed in anger and I slid to a sharp halt, holding the blade out in front of me, gripping it tightly as I shook, still a tiny bit frightened. The snake lunged again and I tried slashing the sword at the snake’s nose, before jumping away when I realized that plan wouldn’t work quite as well as I thought it would.

The snake raised its tail up out of the water and lashed out at me. With a squeak, I jumped out of the way and nearly did the same thing I had done, jumping out of the way of that car.

“Ame!” My ears laid back against my head before raising as I heard the man shout my name, “These weapons don’t work like normal. You have to call out an attack.” I growled then, anger building up inside of me, between the damned snake and the man who just appeared out of nowhere and dropped this bombshell on me. It was then that something hit me:  _ How the hell does he know my name?! _ I jumped again out of the way of the tail once more, but instead of waiting for the tail to recede, I jumped up onto it, catching my balance before running along the length.

“Right!” I nodded, even though I seriously wanted to use the blade on him because still, none of this made any fucking sense! I growled again, low in my throat, and felt as the snake flicked its tail roughly to the side and I let out a sharp gasp as I was flicked off. As I was still in the air, I held my sword out and thought of something to call out again, but my mind blanked for the millionth time today and I cursed at myself.

Just barely fifteen feet from the ground, I finally just shouted something that fit with the blade, “Dark Slash!” I snapped, slashing the sword through the air. And as soon as I did, I watched as the blade created a black line, dark aura surrounding it, through the air and in that moment, the snake hissed in agony as the energy collided with the Kiseichu.

Closing my eyes tightly, I finally landed on the ground, stumbling just a little as I landed on my feet. Opening my eyes, I let out a sharp breath through my nose, and I stared at the snake, my eyes narrowed now.

I felt a strange sense of sickening pride when I saw its head, on the side of the pool, separated from its body and it was only after a few seconds, that something incredible happened: the snake disintegrated, black feather-like things floating up in place of what had been the Kiseichu and they disappeared into thin air.

I let my sword disappear into thin air, just as the Kiseichu had, and surveyed the area. I found, to my surprise, that the only evidence left, to tell that anything happened, was the puddles of water on the sides of the pool and the small dent in the water slide.

A small pale aura sphere floated in the air and my attention turned to it when the man jumped down and walked towards it. I watched him grab out a small keychain with a wolf on it. “Alright little guy, here you go.” He mumbled and no sooner had the words left his mouth did the keychain spring to life, a bright gold-white light surrounding it. Seconds after, in its place, stood a small black wolf pup. My eyes widened as the wolf flicked its tail and barked happily before jumping up and grabbing the sphere with its claws; when it landed back on the ground, it devoured the sphere. Staring at it curiously and with awe, I noticed that it had golden markings, just like me.  _ What a… strange little wolf… thing… _ I thought, my voice barely above a whisper even in my mind.

The man walked over to me and the wolf followed behind him, “Don’t think I don’t notice your look.” He said with a plain tone, but that ever present look of annoyance. “He’s meant for the head of the Jeweled Spirits, the Onyx carrier. So, he’s all yours now kid.” When the wolf saw me, his eyes brightened considerably and he barked happily, running up to me before jumping into my arms and I was barely able to catch him in time, laughing as I did so.

“Let’s name you Kai.” I practically purred, a smile upon my face and he made a little happy noise, wide golden eyes staring at me with adoration and happiness.

“Well, it won’t matter what you name him,” the man sighed, shaking his head as the wolf barked, looking back at him, “but you’ll need him. He’s able to permanently get rid of the Kiseichu.”

I glared at him and growled, as if suddenly remembering all that just happened. “Yeah, about that,” I started, my tone dry and dark, “it’s time for you to answer some questions.” I huffed, setting Kai down onto the ground and he sat loyally by my feet as I crossed my arms. “First of all, why the hell in the world is it me that is this supposed Onyx carrier!?” I snapped and Kai barked, whining a little at how loud my voice was. “Sorry Kai…” I said in a softer tone, kneeling down and petting him gently and he whimpered, nuzzling against the palm of my hand.

The man huffed and glared back at me, catching my attention once more. “How the hell should I know? All I know is that the gem reacts to your presence, which makes it quite simple. You are the one who carries the Panther Spirit. The main carrier of the Jeweled Spirits.” he answered and I sighed, looking down in thought. It was then that I realized I was still in my ‘Jewel Form’, as I dub it, and I narrowed my eyes, looking back at the man.

“Well then, how in the hell do I change back?” I questioned, embarrassed and cross.

“Just think of the original way you looked,” he answered plainly and I sighed again, groaning before doing as told and I closed my eyes tightly. I thought of exactly how I looked before he had shoved that gem in my hand, before I even saw the damned Kiseichu, for that matter. Once I opened my eyes, I was pleased to note that I had my black swim trunks on again and the weight upon my forehead disappeared, but I could no longer feel the bandages. I noticed that even my ears and tail disappeared, for which I was extremely glad. Clenching my fist, I noticed a small weight in my right hand and I slowly opened it up, a bit surprised to see a small, simple, oval shaped Onyx gem.  _ Despite the circumstances, this truly is amazing… _ I whispered in thought, before closing my hand again.

I sighed in relief and shook my head, looking up with my mouth open, a question at the tip of my tongue until I realized the man was gone.  _ Where did he go…? _ I noticed that Kai was also nowhere to be seen, but the keychain that Kai had come from was lying innocently on the ground. I smiled a little and hesitantly reached out before picking it up, gentle and I held it in my hands.

“You’ll be better off with me Kai.” I whispered and held onto both the stone and the keychain before making my way to the locker rooms. I changed back into my regular clothes, stuffing the swimming shorts into a bag that Joshu had grabbed before coming here. I grabbed everyone else’s clothes and stuck them in the bag too before putting the gem in my pocket and sticking the keychain onto one of the loops in my pants.

It wasn’t long after before I was making my way back towards the train station.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

When I got off the train, I was finally heading back to the dormitory, where I would hopefully find my new friends and maybe finally be able to rest a bit, after that exhausting event. However, before I could even make it five minutes away from the station, I was interrupted once more from being able to do anything that I wanted.

And that fact was starting to seriously piss me off.

“Heh, so you’re the little kitty-kat who destroyed my darling little Kiseichu?” It wasn’t the words that stopped me cold in my tracks, it was the voice: deep, dark, and strangely it had my heart fluttering. Something of which I did not like, at all.

“H-huh? Who’s there!?” I turned my head this way and that, trying to figure out who the voice came from, but no one was around me. It irritated me to great lengths and I clenched my fist tightly.

“You want my name?” The voice belonged to a guy; that much I knew. No girl sounded like that and no girls voice could pull at my heart like that either.

“Of course I do, but I would also like you to come out from wherever the hell you’re hiding!” I snapped, gritting my teeth when he laughed.  _ Ugh, that is one annoying laugh. _ I growled harshly and continued to look around frantically, and it was only a heartbeat later when I got an idea. I tilted my head up, sharp and quick, and grinned sharply when I spotted who I was looking for: the guy that annoying laugh belonged to. “Hah!” I was sure I practically glowed with pride, at having found him, and he jumped down from his perch on the tall fence. “I found you!” I said but the growl returned and I glared at him when he smirked at me.  _ Bastard… I ought to wipe that smirk right off of his face. _

Now that he was on the ground, I was able to get a better look at him. I noticed he had short black hair, neat and brushed back, and his eyes were the color of blood.  _ Pfft, he looks like a stupid vampire _ . I thought, trying not to snicker when the thoughts crossed my mind. I noticed then, studying him some more, that he also had sharp pointed ears like an elf.  _ Strange… _ I frowned.

His clothes were different as well: he wore a black and red shirt, a long black trench coat with a red cape attachment, and some black solid pants with a pair of black leather boots. A pair of sleek black gloves were also on his hands, and it unnerved me, seeing the way he was dressed.  _ He really does look like a vampire, or at least one of those crazy psycho fanatics who dress like it’s Halloween every day. I bet he’s even got those stupid little fake fangs. _ I shivered at the thought, tensing up a little.

Narrowing my eyes, I finally spoke, unsure exactly how long I spent looking him over. Judging by the fact that his smirk had widened a little, I’d say probably more than a full minute.  _ I wasn’t checking you out, if that’s what you’re thinking, you stupid annoying… whatever you are _ … “Who the hell exactly are you and what do you mean by  _ your _ Kiseichu?” I growled out, reaching into my pocket for my gem, planning to use it if things got out of hand.  _ Is he… one of the demons that that man had spoken of? _ I thought, suddenly very frightened.

“Oh now, how rude of me. Allow me to introduce myself,” he grinned at me, his eyes narrowed in a way that made my blood boil, revealing a sharp canine and I felt my breath hitch in fear. “It’s Kumo,” the smirk returned and he tilted his head to the side a bit, “a member of a little group known as the Black Demons.”

This had me backing up, my thoughts racing and I gulped.  _ He is… he’s one of the demons that… oh fuck… what do I do…!? _ “B-black Demons...?” I asked, confused and scared; there was also some part of me, a very small part, that was pissed at him for ruining the perfect pool day, but I didn’t focus at all on that fact.

“Yes. And you know, I was a little upset when I found out that Hai and Doreiku finally found someone in their search for humans with Gem Souls,” he purred, his voice sickeningly sweet, as he started to walk towards me and I backed up another step, “but now, I’m glad that it was you they found.”

He kept walking towards me- “W-what do you mean...?” -and I kept stuttering. It was only a few seconds later when I felt myself completely frozen with fear, and I couldn’t move, even as he kept walking, that damned smirk still on his face. There was no more anger, a little less curiosity and confusion, and so much more fear; but there was something else there, something hidden that made me think, made me wonder, just exactly why the demon was so interested in me, of all people.

He laughed at this, at my response, and he stared at me with his blood colored eyes and my own golden ones closed tightly when I noticed how close he’d gotten, but what he had done was anything but what I was expecting. My eyes snapped wide open, still frozen to the spot I stood.  _ H-he just kissed me! _ I stared at him, his eyes closed now, and I felt paralyzed, my breath gone from me and I felt lightheaded.

I wanted so badly to just push him away from me and punch him in the face; to pull out my gem and beat the hell out of him with my blade. But... I couldn’t.

Finally he pulled away and grinned once more at me. “Remember me by the kiss, kitten.” he whispered, his voice smooth like silk, and then he disappeared.

I wasn’t particularly sure, but I could feel the heat in my face, that told me I was blushing. I was almost positive that it was as red as the sky was in my dream and I knew my eyes were still very wide; with both shock and fear. It was minutes later when I finally regained my senses and I growled, clenching my fist tightly, the gem forgotten in my current state of mind. “T-that bastard!” I seethed and ran a hand roughly through my hair, ruffling it before finally deciding to go back to the dorms, furious and upset and embarrassed beyond measure.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

When I finally got there, the others were talking to one another about what they saw at the pool. Samyueru was the first to notice me, when I set down the bag, and his eyes widened before he ran up to me, throwing his arms around me in a tight, bone-crushing hug.

“Ame! You’re okay! We thought the snake had got you!” Samyueru cried out, which caused the other two to look up. Sesu jumped up at the sight and was soon joining in the hug, much to my dismay. I was starting to run out of breath.

“Ame! Thank God you’re all right!” he gasped out, his voice filled with shock, worry, and relief.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I mumbled and got out of their tight hold. Walking over to my bed, I collapsed onto it, closing my eyes tightly as I tried to ignore the worried shouts and the endless questions. I didn’t want to answer anything… I wasn’t even sure I had the answers myself.

“Ame, are you okay? You’re all red...” Joshu finally turned and looked at me. I shook my head, ignoring him, and tried to will the blush to go away, but it didn’t, so I just buried my face in my pillow and sighed.

“I’m fine... I’m sure everything will be fine once I get some rest.” I mumbled and the others nodded, begrudgingly leaving me to sleep.

“Here, we’ll go find something to do so you can sleep.” Sesu said and I only nodded in response. I heard Joshu and Samu follow Sesu out of the room and when I heard the door close, I opened one eye to find them gone. Sighing softly in relief, I sat up and got out my stone and unhooked the keychain, setting them both on the dresser before laying back down, turning so I was lying on my side.  _ Maybe if I go to sleep, I’ll find that this was all just a giant nightmare… nothing but a dream. _ But… I knew that was impossible, especially after what had happened earlier.

“Damn him... that stupid demon… What the hell was he thinking...?” I groaned when I found that all I could think about was that damn kiss and the demon who initiated it. I growled as the blush darkened, just thinking about it, and I buried my face into my pillow once more.  _ Why the hell do I feel like this... This foreign feeling, I hate it.  _ I whispered in my head as I closed my eyes.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, which I’m sure was really only an hour or so, I fell asleep, with only one thought left in my head:  _ Kumo… _


	4. Chapter 3

I sighed softly, wandering about the halls of the school. Today was going good so far, but truth is, I had a hell of a day trying to figure out where I was going. My classes were kind of odd: I had Math first, then Science, History, Gym, and then I had a class called Piano Lab, then lunch, and then it was Art, Homeroom, and finally English. I actually had a couple classes with Sesu, a few with Joshu, and a lot with Samyueru; it was a pretty fun day, to tell the truth.

Except for the fact that I ended up skipping the rest of the day after lunch, going up to hang out on the rooftops.

_ Ah, why is school so boring when you reach high school? _ I sighed, closing my eyes as I rested my head against the wall, relishing in the soft warmth of the sun as it shone down on me. I swore I could sleep like this if I wanted to-

“Well well, if it isn’t the little kitty-kat.”

-or if I wasn’t always interrupted by one thing or another.

I groaned when I heard the most annoying voice in the world and opened my eyes. It was no surprise that I didn’t see him, so I did the only logical thing, I looked up, and there he was: the jackass that kissed me. “I was wondering when you would give up your classes,” he smirked, standing on the part of the building that had the door that led outside onto the school roof.

“What the hell do you want?” I growled at him and he put on an innocent little expression when he spoke.

“Oh now why do you immediately suggest that I want something?” he questioned with a little hum and I finally stood up, turning to face him, my arms crossed in annoyance.

“Well for one, you ruined a hell of a good day for a nap!” I snapped and he laughed, causing my eyes to narrow at him; his laughter died down to a chuckle and he looked at me with a peculiar little gleam of pleasure showing in his eyes.  _ Oh, so he loves making me mad huh? Well he’ll regret it. _

“Don’t think you can fool me, I know you don’t have your pretty little gem with you.” he purred, his lips twitching upward in that annoying little smirk of his and I hit my forehead with the palm of my hand.  _ God damn it… _ I groaned when he laughed again.

“Alright, so what you’re saying is that you know everything I do?” I glared at him now, my arms down at my sides and my fists clenched in anger. “All I have to say is this: what the hell is your problem?” I seethed but paused when all he did was smirk wider, the gleam turning to something a bit more… frightening.

“Oh nothing,” he chuckled and hummed, tilting his head, “I think I’m going to have some fun here soon.” Once more, it wasn’t the sentence that made my eyes widen and made a small blush creep onto my face, it was the way he said the words. Suddenly a shiver ran through me and I gulped,  _ In what way, exactly…? _ I thought, unable to think anything else but that. Kumo was seriously starting to unnerve me.

“W-what do you mean by that...?” I questioned, cursing myself when I stuttered, and he snickered.

“You will find out soon enough, my little kitten.” He said, as my thoughts raced inside my head, and then he disappeared, once more leaving me on my own. I groaned and knelt down abruptly, lowering my head and running my hands through my hair, only to freeze when I realized one very important and incredibly startling detail: my ears were showing.

My eyes widened and I felt my mouth go dry as I quickly chanced a glance behind me, freezing once more when I saw my tail, swishing from side to side easily before flicking out a bit harshly when my mind finally caught up to my body.

“W-what the-!? N-no, this cannot be happening!” I stood up again, almost stumbling in my haste and looked around, spotting a large tree and I ran towards it. I reached the tree and jumped onto the closest branch before climbing down from there. When I was safely on the ground, I started heading in the only direction to the one place I figured could help me out: to the café and to where that man was. _ I hope he is there! And I certainly hope it isn’t a work day for the café.  _ These thoughts had me running faster and it barely took me fifteen minutes to reach the park and then the café, to where I promptly burst through the doors and just as quickly tripped, landing on my face once more. “Ow…” I whimpered, sitting up and rubbing my cheek.  _ That hurt… okay, note to self, don’t ever do that again. _

Looking around, I realized I was alone and I sighed in relief, thanking whatever god out there that no one saw my ultimate screw-up and that no one could see my ears and tail. Standing up, I brushed down my pants and shirt before finally deciding to walk around; it was about time I found that man, anyway.  _ Maybe he can help me… or tell me how to get rid of them? _

I made my way through the café and came to a small hallway, and a few heartbeats later, I heard voices through a small door. “Damn it Doreiku! This is a new shirt!” I perked up a tiny bit when I recognized the man’s voice and immediately knew I truly had come to the right place after all.

I heard a chuckle, after the man spoke, that belonged to someone I didn’t know or recognise. “Sorry Hai, but you know not to startle me.” The other voice said and I growled a little, unable to help the thought,  _ Were there two people involved in this?  _ I narrowed my eyes at the door and finally just decided to lean against the wall opposite of the door.  _ He has to come out some time, _ I hissed in my thoughts.

Finally, after a few minutes of non-stop cursing and words and chuckles from the other man, the door opened to reveal just the brunette I wanted to see, Hai I think his name was. His shirt, a white one with long sleeves, had a large brown coffee stain on it and for a moment, my annoyance and anger was replaced by amusement, but that was gone just as soon as I caught sight of my tail from the corner of my eyes and I let out a harsh sigh, glaring at the man when he looked up at me, startled for a moment, blinking his eyes in confusion.

“What are you doing here, Ame?” he asked me and I clenched my fists.

“What the hell do you think!?” I growled and I think it was then that he finally took in my state of being, looking at my ears and tail and he smirked, his shirt seeming forgotten for now.

“Hm, did you have a run in with a girl or something? Was she hot?”  _ Alright, that’s the last straw! _ I clenched my hands into tight fists and hissed at him, anger boiling in my veins and I hit him, my fist connecting with his cheek and he stumbled backwards, tripping and he fell to his ass, on the ground.

“Jackass! No I didn’t!” I snapped and he groaned, eyes narrowed as he sat up, leaning on one hand as he used the other to rub his cheek gently.  _ There is no way in hell I would tell him I ran into a guy who kissed me and then made a comment that could’ve been in a sexual way or not. No doubt he would flip if he knew that, not to mention that the guy was Kumo, a member of the Black Demons, no less! _ I growled low in my throat, shaking my head before turning it away, closing my eyes tightly as I tried to calm down my emotions. I only opened my eyes once again when I heard the voice of the other man.

“Hai, what is-?” It was then that I noticed a taller, blonde haired man in the doorway, standing behind Hai, looking down at him. He cut himself off when he looked up and saw me, and finally he let out a soft chuckle, sounding very much amused. “Oh, I see.”

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

“It seems that your particular animal spirit shows itself each time you get embarrassed.” Doreiku, the blonde haired man, offered as a sort of explanation as he attended to the bruise on Hai’s face. I crossed my arms and closed my eyes once more, still pretty pissed off at them for not telling me this when they could’ve, but atleast my ears and tail were gone now.

“And why the hell did you not warn me of this before hand?” I opened my eyes and glared at Hai when he smirked at me, clearly amused, despite the fact that I’d knocked him back on his ass for his teasing.

“Must’ve slipped my mind.” he chuckled.

“Bastard, don’t make me actually knock you out this time.” I growled as I clenched my fist up, ready to punch him again,  _ Maybe I can add a matching bruise on his other cheek? _

“Calm down Ame, he’s only playing around with you.” Doreiku said and I growled at him, turning away sharply and throwing my fist against the wall, letting out a harsh breath.

“You are in no position to order me around!” I snapped and he sighed, running a hand over his face as Hai rolled his eyes.  _ Bastard… why is this happening to me…? _

“I suppose you’re right.” he murmured and nodded his head, “Allow me to further explain things.” He cleared his throat and sat down in one of the café chairs while I leaned against the wall, glaring at the two of them once more. My anger was lessening, now that there’s actually a chance to get a real explanation about all of this, but I still had to keep up an appearance. “Hai and I have been searching a long time for seven teens, like you, that have a direct link to a certain kind of gem’s aura. After searching for a while, we finally found someone. A sixteen year old who entered the Genseki Museum that day, one that had a particularly rare Gem Soul.” I interrupted him then, frowning.

“So that means, that feeling that I had of being watched... that was you guys spying on the trip I had with my cousin?” I questioned, shaking my head as I tried to wrap my mind around it.  _ This is so freaking weird… _ Doreiku only nodded as he continued speaking.

“Right.” he sighed softly, “Well, here's the deal, and I’m sure Hai explained some of this to you already; you and six others have what are known as Gem Souls. Gem Souls are fragments of a certain animal with a connection to a certain type of jewel, and yours just happens to be the panther which has a direct link to the Onyx gem.” I frowned as my hand reflexively went to my pocket and I remembered, bitterly, that I left it back in the dorm room. “And the reason you are who you are, is because-” I interrupted him once again, sighing heavily as I straightened my posture.

“-Is because we have to stop the threat to Earth, our home. And that threat is the Black Demons and that bastard Kumo, am I right?” I clenched my teeth as I said his name, but was quite a bit embarrassed when I felt heat crawl up to my cheeks. Luckily, neither mentioned it.

“Oh? You had a run in with him, I suppose?” Doreiku asked and I closed my eyes tightly. I winced when I felt my nails dig into my skin, but I didn’t bother to release the fists I was making. At the very least, it helped me take my mind off a few things that bugged me, things like everything about Kumo, for example.

“That damn bastard ruined two perfect days for me!!” I snapped and Hai laughed, the sound oddly loud and bright. It would’ve annoyed me if it weren’t for the fact that this is the first time I’ve seem him near genuinely happy.

“I can see how meeting Kumo would ruin your day. He isn’t like the other members of the Black Demons. But then again, him being a vampire, that’s expected of him.” he said, shaking his head as he sat back in his chair and my eyes widened, shock filling my whole body and all my thoughts, freezing me in place.

“H-he’s a v-vampire!?!” I stuttered, my blush increasing ten-fold.  _ No fucking way! I got kissed by a vampire!? A fucking vampire, the worst kind of demon in the legends... actually kissed me!? _

It all makes sense now... his actions, the way he talks, how he can disappear, his appearance, and his... his... blood red eyes and black hair.

“Well yes, but off that subject. Now that you are a part of the Jeweled Spirits, we will need two things from you.” Doreiku said and I immediately stopped, my thoughts all coming to an abrupt halt. _ Hell no! _

“Who ever said I wanted to join!?” I hissed and turned sharply on my heel, about to leave the café and go back to the dorms, or my treehouse. However, before I could even take a step in the direction of the doors, Hai grabbed onto my wrist and glared sharply at me, the glare sending a shiver down my spine when I caught sight of it from the corner of my eye. “Let go of me…” I growled, hoping he would do as I said, but of course, fat chance of that happening.

“We aren’t giving you a choice, kid, so be a good little kitten and do as you’re told.” My eyes widened then, at the coldness of his voice, and I felt my blood run cold.  _ I-I’ve heard that tone before... that coldness... it was... in a dream... But no, his voice is much different from the one I heard in my dream, it wasn’t as cold as the voice in my dream... That voice... was much colder than his. _

“F-fine...” I spoke with a shaky voice, though soon after realizing how I sounded, I cleared my throat and and straightened up. Looking at Doreiku with a cold expression, I spoke, “What is it you want me to do then?”

He held up two fingers, sighing softly after giving Hai a strange look. “Two things. One,” he held up only one finger now, “you will need to work here at the café so that if anything comes up, we have a way of getting to you easily. And two,” he held up the second finger, so that he had two fingers up once again, “you will need to find the other six members on your own. Our job is finished.” He nodded his head to what he said and I sighed, looking down and away, thankful that Hai had let go of my wrist when Doreiku was speaking.

“Fine,” I muttered, “I’ll do it.”

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

“There is no way in hell I’m doing this!” I shouted through the door of the bathroom after I changed into the outfit they gave me, anger once more boiling through my veins after the initial embarrassment faded away. The outfit that they handed me was almost,  _ almost _ , identical to the outfit in my ‘Jewel Form’.

It consisted of a black mini shirt with black skinny jeans, both having golden marks on them. There were also black shoes that had near identical gold designs, along with a black and gold wristband on each arm and a couple of gold clips in my hair that made me officially look like a girl.

“Ame, it’s almost exactly like your Gem form.” Doreiku said back, his voice soft and gentle as if to calm me and I scowled at the mirror and glared at my reflection.  _ I swear I will seriously get them back for this… _

“Yeah, but people will see me in this ridiculous outfit!” I complained- “I look like a girl!” -and Hai laughed, loud and annoying and it was seriously starting to piss me off.

“Your spirit animal thought it looked perfect for you, so quit complaining!” I heard Hai say through his fits of laughter.  _ Alright, it’s official, I fucking hate him… _ I thought and opened the door without making noise. Coming up behind Hai, I crossed my arms, my eyes narrowed, and I growled, low in my throat.

“If you laugh, one more time…” I started in a dark manner, “I will seriously hurt you.” I finished, clenching my fists tightly. He turned around at the sound of my voice and I saw his eyes widened, sparks of amusement and laughter in them and I couldn’t help the anger that bubbled inside when I saw them.

“I-I’m sorry miss, but the...” he laughed harder, clutching at his sides and I tensed, practically seething now, “the café is... c-closed right now....”

“Damn it Hai, you fucking bastard! Go to hell!” My response was immediate as I took a swing at the brunette, but lucky Hai, Doreiku managed to pull him out of the way before my fist connected and I ended up nearly stumbling. To my credit, I thought I would actually hit him, but Hai only saw this as something that even more amusing as he started to crack up again, falling against the wall. “I hate you, so fucking much…” I hissed, straightening my outfit and I glared at both Hai and Doreiku, who only looked at me with a small guilty smile, holding his hands up in defense.

“I’m sorry Ame,” that was all I managed to hear as I stalked out of the café, pissed beyond measure.  _ Let’s hope a little walk around the park will help calm me down. _ It was then that I realized I left my clothes there and I sighed in frustration before shrugging.  _ I’ll return for them later… after I’ve cooled down a bit. _


	5. Chapter 4

Huffing out a harsh sigh as I walked back to the dorms, I ignored the fact that I was still wearing the stupid uniform. Hai and Doreiku wouldn’t let me take it off so I had to wear it on the way back; but at least they gave me a bag to put my other clothes in, so I could change back into them when I got back. “Stupid jerks...” I mumbled bitterly and groaned as I kept receiving glares, confused looks, amused ones, and laughs from different guys and girls. “What the hell are you looking at!?” I snapped at them, finally having had enough, and they all turned away.

When I finally got to the dorms, I went up to my room and went inside, immediately going to the bathroom to change out of the café outfit and into my regular, normal clothes that  _ didn’t _ make me look like a girl.

“Hey Ame, where have you been this entire time? You missed like half of the school day and a trip to the park.” Sesu huffed out and I sighed, giving a small shake of my head before walking over to my bed.

“I had business I needed to tend to.” I mumbled and put away the café uniform in the dresser. I then grabbed my stone, sticking it in my pocket, before looking around for my keychain.  _ Where’d it go? _ I frowned in confusion, my eyes narrowed.

“What are you looking for?” Joshu questioned and I looked up, blinking slightly in surprise. I hadn’t know Joshu was here as well, but I didn’t mind that I missed that fact and instead ran a hand through my hair, sighing softly.

“Uh, a keychain with a wolf on it.” I murmured, loud enough for him to hear me. “Have you seen-?” I cut myself off, eyes wide when I turned towards the doorway when Samu and Kai came into the room and the instant that Kai saw me, he barked and ran up to me, jumping into my arms.

“K-kai!? H-how did you...?” I glanced up at the three and they shrugged, though of course they had no clue what I was talking about. Joshu shook his head with a chuckle sitting back before looking to Sesu and nodding his head. I frowned in confusion, a bit suspicious, when Sesu shook his head before biting his lip and nodding when Joshu gave him a pointed glare.

“Oh, um, by the way, there was a guy here earlier, asking for you.” Sesu said slowly, unsure it seemed and my confusion only grew. “We told him we didn’t know where you were, so he just told us to give you this instead.” After saying this, he got up, grabbed out a piece of paper from his pocket before walking over to me and handing it over. I hesitantly reached out to take it, after setting Kai on the ground to play with Samu, and for a moment I just stared at it. Glancing up, I noticed Sesu and Joshu staring at me, as if waiting for me to open the letter and read it, and soon enough, I decided to do just that. And the moment I did, I stared, wide eyed at what I saw.

‘ _ Hey there kitty-kat, meet me at the park, near the large fountain. I have something I need to speak to you about. You will love it. Your favorite demon. _ ’

I clenched the paper tightly in my fist, balling it up as I did, and hissed a little. “Damn it, Kumo...” I seethed, the words nearly a whisper.  _ And just when I thought my troubles for the day were over. _ I thought with a shake of my head and I turned sharply towards the door. “Come on Kai, we have somewhere we need to be.” I said, glancing back at the little wolf, who had just been playing with Samyueru, and he obediently followed on command, giving a little bark as he padded over to where I stood, by the door.

“But wait, Ame, where are you going now?” Samu asked me and I answered, my hand on the door handle and my eyes closed tightly.

“Out. Don’t follow me.” I said, leaving no room for them to argue and I soon made my way out of the dormitory, closing the doors behind me as I went, Kai bouncing and running ahead, barking occasionally, but I paid almost no mind to him. I gripped onto my Onyx stone and smirked, thoughts running through my head. “This time, I won’t hesitate to use the gem.” I murmured quietly to myself.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

It was minutes later when I reached the park fountain, and I growled when I saw no one around but myself, and this time there was nowhere for the demon to hide above me. But no sooner had I settled down, kneeling beside the fountain, did I hear the familiar voice I was actually waiting to hear.

“Oh, I just knew you would come my little kitten.” I rolled my eyes when I heard the words Kumo said and sighed, standing up.  _ Come on Ame, no time for screw-ups this time. _ Kai barked though, a few times, turning all around in a circle as if trying to find the culprit the voice belonged to. I only chuckled a little at the pup, before I too turned my attention back to the demon.

“Come out, Kumo!” I said, looking around slowly as I heard him laugh. The sound seemed to come from all directions, but I knew it was just a trick to mess with my head. It wasn’t going to work, not this time.

“So bossy,” he said as he appeared behind me, Kai barking loudly once more, startled when the demon did so, and he whispered into my ears, “just another thing I like about-” I didn’t let him finish the sentence as I jumped away from him, turning around sharply and I glared at him, baring my canines when I growled, my body tense and just itching for a fight.

“Heads up you annoying, stupid, demon bastard! No matter what the hell you try to do to me, I will never be yours and on top of that-” I shook my head sharply, grabbing out my gem and holding onto it as tightly as I could, “-you seriously, really fucking creep me out!” I bit out, closing my eyes tightly and I held the gem out. “Onyx!” I called out and immediately felt the familiar spine-tingling feeling, as I knew the dark aura surrounded me, allowing me to change into my Gem form.

Kumo chuckled and I opened my eyes, glaring at him once more, wondering why the hell he was laughing; until he spoke, anyway. “Oh how cute. It seems the animal spirits are in my favor,” he smirked at me and for a moment, I froze, my eyes wide.

“W-what do you mean??” I asked, a bit frightened and he laughed once again. I looked down at the outfit then and immediately knew what he was talking about; I seethed and growled low in my throat. “Damn it, Hai! I’ll get you for this!” I snapped as I held out my hand, calling out the given name of my Spirit Weapon. “Onyx Blade!” I called and the blade materialized into my hand, the black aura surrounding it before disappearing completely.

Gripping it tightly with both of my hands, I stood my ground and saw, to my annoyance, that my tail was flicking around harshly behind me, fitting to my mood. Shaking my head, I ignored it, as my ears twitched, and I decided to continue talking before Kumo cut in with whatever nonsense was going through his mind.

“Kumo,” I started, hissing in a low tone, “I will say this to you only once, so you better take the offer now or you’ll regret it.” Slashing my blade in the air, I transferred it to one hand and pointed at him with my now free hand. “Leave me the hell alone or I will make sure you do!” I snapped, my ears laid back against my head and my tail continued to lash out from side to side and I threw out my free arm before taking up my blade once more with both hands, holding it straight out. This only seemed to amuse him more, though, and that, for some reason, frightened me.

It was only then that I realized Kai was no longer anywhere to be seen.  _ Where’d he go…? _ I questioned, but couldn’t think anymore on it as my attention was directed back towards Kumo.

“Oh now?” He smirked and began walking towards me, slow like a predator cornering his prey. “What will be the fun in that, my little kitten?”

“Don’t you dare take one more step towards me...” I growled out, though my hands were shaking slightly, but he didn’t even flinch.  _ Damn it, I’m supposed to be scary... I guess it doesn’t work with an actual demon. _ I thought with bitter annoyance, trying to calm down the growing fear inside me.

I took a deep breath and gripped my sword tighter, getting ready to attack.

“Don’t you vampires ever listen!?” I seethed, playing up the act, before running at him, full speed. I held up my sword and slashed at him, trying to put enough force into the blow that I could maybe knock him back, but I never got that far; I was surprised when he summoned two identically half-swords and he pushed me back. He had a very wicked grin on his face and his red eyes showed dark amusement and pleasure.

I jumped back and growled some more, my breath coming out in short, panicked pants. “Dark Slash!” I called and slashed the air in front of me; somehow, he was able to jump into the air to dodge the attack.  _ H-he just dodged it like it was a measly fly...! How is that possible!? _ I thought, stumbling back in shock, my eyes impossibly wide and he chuckled, smirking at me when he landed back onto the ground.

“A simple low level Kiseichu could’ve easily dodged that,” he taunted simply, as if to say he read my mind. That had me regain what thought I had left and I growled again, glaring at him. I tried to raise my sword for another attack but he dashed towards me, quicker than I’d ever seen anyone move and he knocked the sword from my hand with ease. I watched with wide eyes as the blade disappeared, once it hit the thick trunk of a nearby tree and I let out a choked gasp, my eyes snapping back towards Kumo’s. “Well well well, not so tough now, are we little kitty-kat?”

I backed away slightly in fear, my eyes still very wide and his smirk became even wider. He pushed me back with his hand and I nearly froze in fear when I felt my back hit a tree. I gulped, letting out a shaky breath as he crossed his blades at my neck, each barely touching my skin and I flinched back.

I was terrified and trapped, and I couldn’t do a single damn thing. And he knew it, too; he chuckled and leaned in, getting close to my ears, my tail twitching and quivering until it finally decided to be a coward and it wrapped itself tightly around my leg.

“Listen to me and listen well when I say this, because now I will say this once, and only once. You, my kitten, will never get rid of me so easily.” he purred, in a voice that had my very being frozen, my blood running cold. All I could think of was the fact that it was the exact same voice from my dreams, the same one that had me cowering and left in the dark, drowning in my own fears and tears. “I will never leave you alone,” he ran his free hand along my exposed stomach and I flinched back at his touch, only then realizing that the swords were gone, “until I get what I want.” he finished in a whisper, his tone seemingly even colder than before and he came face to face with me, licking his lips and I couldn’t help it as I followed the motion with my gaze. He smirked and spoke again, “And I want you.” He added, my eyes closing tightly and I let out a terrifyingly embarrassing whimper.  _ Damn it! No! I can’t do this! I won’t submit! _ “And if I want you, then you can expect to never get rid of me.” He finally finished talking and I shivered lightly when I felt him grab my chin with one of his hands and he kissed me again, my mind literally becoming empty at the touch of his lips to mine. “See you around, kitten.” he murmured, his lips barely a hair's width away from my own, after he let the kiss go.

And then he disappeared and it was only a few moments later when I opened my eyes to find him gone, something that I was most definitely relieved to know.

I sighed softly in relief and then slid down against the tree, into a sitting position. I reached my hand up to touch my lips and then closed my eyes tightly, once more, shaking my head sharply when I did.  _ Damn it, not again... _ I thought with a slightly bitter tone to it. “Oh, what have I gotten myself into...?” I asked myself, blushing a bit darkly as I changed back into my normal self. It was only minutes later when I heard barking and I perked my head up, turning it to the side to see Kai appearing from behind a tree and I noticed then that Samyueru was behind him. “S-Samu…?” I frowned, confused, and I stood up, brushing off my pants.

“Your little wolf came running into the room and kept bugging me until I followed him. It seemed to me something was wrong and I was the only one in the room at the time,” Samu shrugged, “so I decided to see what was going on with him.” Kai barked, jumping up around and whining before barking again and I sighed a little, chuckling wearily before offering him a small smile.

“Good boy Kai; thanks.” I whispered and he barked happily, rubbing his head against my leg. I turned then to Samyueru and tried going for a sheepish smile; it… kinda worked. “Well I’m fine, so let’s go back to the dorm.” I nodded my head back in the direction he came from and he smiled back at me, nodding in agreement.

“Okay then!”

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

It’s been a week now since my last meeting with Kumo personally. I switched between my classes and taking naps on the roof, every now and then, because of my new job at the café. And speaking of, the café was okay, but it was awful because I had to wear the stupid uniform that Hai made fun of me for. And every so often, people would laugh at me or say that I was cute. It was annoying, frustrating, and I hate it; I don’t think I’d ever be able to get used to it.

I always let Kai roam the free world instead of being stuck as a keychain. Sesu, Joshu, and Samu would always try to get me out of bed when they wanted to do something fun; usually I wouldn’t because I’d often be too tired.

It’s been hectic ever since that day I discovered who and what I was and I haven’t really had a single break from it, and I was getting tired of it all pretty quickly.

Suta left for her home last night and I was most certainly glad; even though, just like everybody with their cousins and family, I guess I will sort of miss her annoying, bratty comments. I won’t ever miss them too much to the point that I want her to come back, though. No chance in hell.

Oh yeah, and I’ve had no such luck in finding other members of the Jeweled Spirits; so in that way, it’s been very boring and tedious. I don’t understand why Hai or Doreiku can’t ever do the same thing they did with finding me. It would make my time finding them a hell of a lot easier, I’m sure.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

The moon was shining brightly outside the window, bathing the quiet room in a pale white-blue light that calmed me. I was exhausted, sure, but I couldn’t sleep. I had too much on my mind; but everyone else was sleeping peacefully in their own beds. Kai was sleeping with Samyueru in his bed, Joshu was snoring in his, the blankets tossed haphazardly over him, and Sesu was on his own bed with a very large red bruise on his face. Of course, I will only take partial responsibility for that...

I sighed deeply and sat up, removing the blanket from myself, alerting Kai. The wolf sat up, stretched out, yawned, and then jumped from the bed, padding quietly over to me, a tilt to his head as if to ask what was wrong. I swear, this wolf had part of my soul within him.

“No Kai,” I murmured softly and he whined, “go back to sleep, I’m just going to go take a small walk, okay?” I finished and pet him on the head before standing up and grabbing my stone. I walked to the door and grabbed my jacket, since it was a little cold out and made my way out to the roof.

I closed my eyes tightly as I thought back to something that Doreiku had told me earlier today.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ “Now Ame, there is one thing I need you to keep in mind. Hai and I have discovered that, with your particular spirit, every full moon you will change.” he said to me, keeping his voice carefully calm and plain. _

_ “Change? Like how?” I asked him, raising an eyebrow in confusion and a bit in curiosity. _

_ “We’re not sure, but as we’d done more research, we discovered that a part of your DNA structure changes every month when the moon is full.” Hai said, annoyed and bored, as he always was. _

_ “Okay,” I said slowly, frowning a little, “but is this change good or bad?” I asked, wanting to know everything I could before being thrown into another situation like the last one, but the two looked at each other, each having their own little frown on their faces. _

_ “We don’t know. Just know that when the full moon rises, you better expect something big. Because when you change, you won’t be able to change back for three full days.” _

_ “Oh perfect...” I sighed, running a hand through my hair before pausing as I got an idea. “But doesn’t that mean this will make my search easier? I mean all I’ll have to do is find the animals that are freaking out from the change, right?” I questioned, actually a bit excited, but Hai’s frown deepened and he sighed. _

_ “Afraid not Ame, apparently this change only happens to the Onyx carrier. We don’t know why or how, it just does.” he said and I nearly fell backwards, flailing about as a million questions and thoughts raced through my mind. _

_ “What!? But that’s not fair! What about school? And my job here!?” _

_ “Don’t worry so much, we created a device that only allows me and Hai to understand you. And not only that, but it seems that when you change, both the Black Demons and the Jeweled Spirits will be able to hear you.” Doreiku said and I groaned. _

Oh yay... I’ll be tortured by Kumo in my spirit form as well... _ I huffed out an annoyed sigh and crossed my arms, “Okay fine, but if anything happens to me, when I change back to normal, you better be watching your back.” I threatened and turned swiftly on my heel to walk out of the café before I had to hear Hai’s no doubt laughing response and I finally just decided to go back to the dorms for the rest of the day. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

When I had gotten back to the dorms, that’s when Sesu laughed at me for the uniform and I’d socked him in the face, nearly knocking him out cold. I chuckled at the thought, remembering well what happened, and then sat against the wall, looking up at the night sky and at the moon.

“Tomorrow is the full moon,” I whispered and smiled softly. “I wonder what will happen while I’m gone.” I added, soft and quiet, as exhaustion soon took over and I dozed off where I sat on the roof.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

“Ame, wake up. It’s time for school...” Samu’s voice was what woke me up from my sleep, breaking me from the fuzzy nightmare I’d been having. I opened one eye to see my friends surrounding me and I closed my eyes again, sitting up a little as I yawned. I stretched out and opened my eyes again, accepting Joshu’s hand and he pulled me up so I was standing, instead of sitting.

“Dude, you dozed off on the roof.” Sesu commented and I barely allowed a smirk onto my face, seeing his own was all red and puffy he had looked a tad bit annoyed and scared. I yawned again before nodding and I went back down the dorm room, heading to get dressed for the new school day.

“How’s your face?” I asked, curious and a bit amused, the smirk still on my face.

“Great, no thanks to you...” he mumbled and I laughed, gently punching him in the shoulder.

“Next time, don’t laugh.”

“I wouldn’t have if I had known you would’ve punched me for it.”

“Well duh,” I snickered as I entered the room and grabbed out a new pair of clothes, getting dressed in the bathroom; I went ahead and brushed my hair and teeth as well, fixing new bandages over my birthmark. That was when I remembered to mention something about the full moon, about why I was going to be disappearing off the map for a few days. “Oh um hey guys...” I said as I exited the bathroom, ruffling my hair a bit. “I have to go somewhere after school. I won’t be back for a couple days, though.”

“Oh yeah? Where you headed?” Joshu asked me and I shrugged a little, frowning as I tried to come up with some excuse they’d believe.

“My moms,” I lied. I still hadn’t told them that my parents died yet, so they hadn’t known it was a lie at all. Which was actually great, but it still made my heart ache a little, thinking about it all.

“Ah, that’s cool,” Sesu chuckled.

“Is your mom nice?” Samu asked and I let a small fake smile cross my lips.

“Yeah, she’s the best mom anyone could have.” I said and he smiled wider. Truth was though: I couldn’t actually remember my parents at all. Not their names, not their faces, not their voices... nothing... I couldn’t even remember their touch.

“What about your dad? Where is he?” Samu asked another question and I thought a bit to make up a good lie.

“My dad is the coolest, he’s in Antarctica. Right now he’s exploring the regions with some other people who’d gotten chosen for the voyage.” I said and the other three looked fascinated.

“Neat!” Sesu called out and Joshu nodded.

“I wish my dad was like that!” Samu called and I chuckled.

“Yeah well my dad and mom are the coolest parents ever. So, meh,” I stuck my tongue out at Samu and he whined playfully when I snickered and winked after.

We went our separate ways, when we entered the school building, and soon after, my thoughts took over and all I’d been able to think about the entire time were my parents.

_ My parents... who were they? What were they like? What did they look, smell, and feel like? Were they nice? Or more importantly... did they ever even love me? _

I sighed deeply and frowned lightly, closing my eyes tightly as I tried to rid my thoughts of these questions. It never worked, and soon enough, I found myself sitting in my last class, with my head resting in my arms and I closed my eyes once more, with one final thought in my head before I finally dozed off.  _ Why don’t I remember anything before my tenth birthday, and why don’t I remember them? _


	6. Chapter 5

The bell was what woke me up this time, the shrill ringing making me wince as I stirred from my sleep and I blinked my eyes opened, before lifting my head up. I yawned and stretched my out my arms, hearing a few satisfying pops, since I’d fallen asleep on them. Unfortunately though, I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not that the bell woke me up; on one hand, I hate being woken up by something annoying and loud. On the other hand… I’d had another dream about Kumo and it was just like the others: his voice was cold and harsh and I was yet again powerless upon his presence.  _ I really hate that stupid vampire. _

I sighed deeply, grabbed my stuff, stood up and headed out of the classroom and to the dorms to get dressed for the café. I put on clean bandages and then headed out after grabbing the keychain and the gemstone.

When I got to the café, no one was really there.  _ How surprising. _ I thought, sighing mentally. I walked to the kitchen and looked around, seeing only a couple of dirty dishes and went to washing them. After I was finished, I looked to the time and smiled softly. “Well, time to open up.” I said lightly and then walked to the entrance and put up the ‘OPEN’ sign and waited for customers to come.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

“Here Ame.” Hai handed me a little black collar that had a small device on it, along with an Onyx gem. I sighed, taking it from his grasp and I looked down at it before looking back up at the two before me.

“How much longer do I have until the moon rises?”

“You have about a half an hour.” Doreiku said, messing with his computer and I just nodded blankly. I stared at the collar a bit longer before deciding to just quit delaying the inevitable and I put it on, clasping it around my neck.  _ I don’t think I’ll like this...  _ I thought bitterly and leaned against the wall, sighing once more.

“I think I’ll go walk around the park for a bit, until the moon rises.” I murmured, mostly to myself though, after a few moments of silence.

“You do know what you’re supposed to do right?” Hai questioned, frowning at me and I barely managed to stop myself from rolling my eyes.

“Yeah I do, try and find the other members of the Jeweled Spirits.” I said, unable to keep the harsh tone from my voice, though and I left before either had a chance to say anything more. “I’m not that dumb.” I added in a soft whisper after I did, so Hai wouldn’t hear me and comment something no doubt insulting, and headed down to the lake instead of the park. The lake always managed to do the trick, calming me down after such an exhausting day.

It was a Wednesday, so nobody was really around, with it being a school night and such; students were already probably in their beds, asleep, and adults were no doubt getting ready for a long and tiring early morning tomorrow.

“I wonder what I’ll change into.” I hummed, leaning back on my elbows, after lying down on the grass and I stared up at the sky, “I mean my animal is a panther, so maybe I’ll change into a panther when the moon rises?” I asked myself, a small grin upon my lips when I thought about this.  _ Oh how I’d love to see the look on Hai’s face when he sees what a huge cat I’ll be! _ I practically purred with delight at that thought, unable to help it. “Well, there is only one way to find out.” My grin only widened when I saw the moon rise slowly and I closed my eyes tightly, sitting up.

However, after a minute or so of waiting, not really feeling much of a change, I opened my eyes and looked up to see the full moon in view. The surrounding area, though, looked the same and I didn’t understand what happened, or… what didn’t happen.

_ “Huh? That’s... odd. I don’t feel much different.” _ I murmured to myself and held up a hand to my face, only to fall back onto the grass, my eyes incredibly wide, when I realised that my hand was actually a paw. An incredibly small, black paw.  _ “Ack! I-I’m a cat!?” _ I questioned, freaking out just a bit. This wasn’t what I was expecting, no; I was expecting to be a panther with full fledged claws and a different vision, but this… this was most certainly different.

I couldn’t believe that I was a cat; a tiny, little house-cat of all things!

Standing up with a bit of awkward balance, I looked around me before determining the best place to go and have a real look at myself without any true distraction. Running to the park, I let out a tiny sigh of relief when I found the fountain, everything seeming so hyper-sensitive right now and I didn’t know what to do, let alone what to think.

I ran to the fountain when I’d finally reached the park and I jumped onto the ledge, kinda expecting to see a huge black panther in the reflection; I wasn’t too surprised when all I saw a measly house cat. Though my fur was black, rather than dark brown, my eyes were still the same weird gold color they’ve always been.

Around my neck, as expected, was the collar that Hai gave me. On the side was the device that allowed Hai and Doreiku to understand me and in the front of it was my gemstone. I was glad they added the gem to the collar, otherwise, I’d have trouble if I ever ran into Kumo, or worse, one of the other, unknown, members of the Black Demons.  _ Wait, can I even use the stone like this? _ I frowned in confusion, a little scared to think what would happen if it didn’t work in this form. I’d be helpless, powerless against any who tried to harm me.  _ Just like in my dreams… only now I’m a cat, and this is most definitely real and I’m not asleep. _

_ “Whoa...” _ I let out a soft breath, running a paw over my head, feeling the sleekness of my fur.  _ “This is kind of cool!” _ I chuckled, a bit giddy and I jumped around, carefully avoiding falling into the dark water.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

Sitting atop a small lamp post, I looked around at everything. Now that the initial excitement about changing into a cat had worn down, I was getting antsy and bored. Sighing, I climbed carefully down, jumping up onto a thin boarded fence, walking along it as I tried to think of what to do.

_ “Now how in the world am I supposed to find the others while in this form?” _ I questioned out loud, though I knew now that no one could actually hear me. Not unless they were part of the Jeweled Spirits or the Black Demons.  _ Speaking of which… _ I groused, my eyes narrowed,  _ I haven’t seen Kumo in a while… I wonder just what he’s planning to do. Stupid bastard… Man, I still can’t believe he’s a vampire! That’s just so completely unfair! _ I whined in my head, shaking it as I continued to walk, hopping from fence to fence when one ended and another began. I was extra careful, avoiding fences that had dogs inside them, as I know what could happen if I were to be startled and fall.

_ Now that certainly wouldn’t be pretty, _ I grimaced at the thought before deciding to finally slow to a halt. I sat down on the fence I was on, blinking in confusion when I realized where I was.

Somehow, having gotten lost in my thoughts, I’d ended up walking to a large house that looked like it could be a mansion. Becoming more than curious, I ended up jumping down onto the neat little path that led to the front entrance and chose to snoop around.

_ “Heh, I had no idea we have another rich person in the area... I thought only Jeimi was rich and owned a mansion like this.” _ I murmured, smirking a little, and I padded around, my ears twitching and my tail flicking from side to side easily, reflecting upon my mood once more.

The mansion itself was a light red color with full on red roof tiles and window sills; the door was red as well, with a white trim. Looking around, I noticed that there were several gardens around and I circled around them, gazing at all the beautiful flowers and taking in all of the admittedly overpowering scents of each.

There were several freshly grown tulips, petunias, gardenias, lilies, roses and even other flowers in which I didn’t even know the names of. A certain type of flower caught my attention though and I gazed at the white roses with wide eyed awe and I smiled wide, my canines glinting in the moonlight. I loved white roses. They were my most favorite type of flower; have been for as long as I remember. Turning path to the path, I realized that there were several full grown cherry blossoms that were already in full bloom, all lined along the pathway and spaced apart so evenly it was incredible.

_ “Amazing!” _ I purred as I walked around, gazing at all the stuff. I wandered around to the back and my eyes widened even more at what I found. There was a large pool, a trampoline, a swing set, a small water slide that attached to the pool, more gardens, and a full on large fountain in the middle of it all.  _ I envy this person so much... _ I frowned deeply in thought but then smiled wide as I ran to the fountain and jumped onto the surface.

In the middle of the fountain, I noted, were three statues of copper foxes on a silver mountain, each fox having two ruby gemstones as eyes.

I looked around again and my eyes laid upon the back door, which was now being opened by a man with brown hair, a white short sleeve shirt and jean shorts. He looked to be at least twenty five or so, probably the owner of the house.

The one behind him though, was who caught my attention; a girl that looked just a little older than me. She had long light red hair that was tied back into a ponytail and she also wore a small red and white ballerina outfit.

“Will you watch me perform tonight Kiba?” the girl questioned, her voice filled with excitement and hope, and I tilted my head in confusion as I watched the two with wide, curious eyes. My ears twitched and my eyes narrowed when I heard the man, Kiba’s response.

“I’m sorry Aka... Rairi’s concert is tonight. I promise I’ll make it next time.” he apologized and she huffed, frowning as she crossed her arms.

“You’re never able to make it because of her! I wish you would just dump her...” she turned her attention to the garden and stalked off into one of the many gardens, and I watched her sit on a large rock, before turning my attention back to the man.

“Akatsuki!” Kiba sighed deeply and shook his head in defeat, apparently knowing his pleas wouldn’t help any. “Alright then, be ready in an hour, I’ll drive you to the show.” He finally said and she waved her hand in reply before he left, turning to go back into the house, closing the door after him.

She lifted her head up at the sound of the door and looked around finally in distress. “Stupid Kiba... he only has time for Rairi now...” she mumbled and wiped her eyes, telling me that she was most definitely crying.

For a moment, I almost wished I could help, but then I remembered I was a cat and I couldn’t do anything at all. She probably wouldn’t even understand me, anyway. I sighed and shook my head lightly,  _ “Poor girl...” _ I trailed off and shook my fur, jumping down from the fountain and I got ready to continue my search.

“H-huh? Who’s there?” The girl, Akatsuki, stood up and I froze in my spot, looking back at her, my eyes impossibly wide.

_ “Did she just.... hear me?” _

“I asked who was there.” Her voice seemed more firm than before, as if filled with impatience this time. I wouldn’t blame her though, I’d be so as well, if I heard a voice come out of nowhere. Actually… I kinda have been in her position before; with Kumo…  _ Ugh… stupid demon… _ Shaking my head to rid my thoughts, I finally focused on the problem at hand and then grinned wide, an idea popping into my head.  _ This must mean… finally! _

_ “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Or in this case, showed you.” _ I purred, my grin now a smirk and I took a cautious step forward, careful not to make a sound.

She looked confused for a moment, but then her eyes narrowed at the scenery around her. “Who. Are. You?” She snapped and I sighed, getting a bit annoyed. She was kinda bossy, but once more, I don’t blame her.

_ “Fine.” _ I replied softly, before jumping back up onto the fountain.  _ “I am who was talking to you.” _ I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.  _ “My name is Ame.” _ I added and opened my eyes, wanting to see her reaction; but I was scared I would see something I didn’t like.

I’m glad I did though, because her reaction was actually quite funny. Her eyes were wide and she looked scared, shocked, and confused all at the same time. It was amazing to watch, as all these different emotions flitted across her face, showing in her eyes and I delighted in figuring them all out.

“But you... you’re just a cat! How can you... speak!?” she asked me, her voice dripping with confusion and disbelief and I chuckled, ducking my head a little, my ears twitching as I thought of how best to answer her questions.

_ “I may be a cat in appearance, but in truth, I am a human just like you.” _ I said in a calm voice when I looked back up at her. Her expression then softened up a bit and she looked, for a moment, like she was trying not to laugh and I growled at this, scratching at the fountain with my claws in my frustration.  _ “Don’t you see that even talking to me is an obvious dead give away!?” _ I flicked my tail out in my mild anger and then sat down, trying to calm myself down.

“This can’t possibly be real…” she said at last and I sighed, shaking my head at her.

_ “It is very real,” _ I murmured and it was quiet for several heartbeats until I finally decided to look up and my eyes widened with fright and just a tiny bit of annoyance,  _ “and I suggest you run!” _ I added quickly and jumped from the fountain, running away from where she stood. Looking back, when I realized she wasn’t following me, I saw her standing stock still, confused and annoyed, but it wasn’t until a loud screech was heard that she finally turned around. Smartly, she decided to finally follow my lead after seeing the giant Red-Tailed Hawk flying down towards us, its wings spread out wide and its talons out in front of it.

She let out a sharp, high pitch scream and ran away from the Kiseichu, dashing ahead of me and around the house and to her front yard. The bird swooped upward and flew above the house, swooping down below towards us again.  _ Fuck, this thing is fast!  _ I looked around to make sure no one was around but me and Akatsuki and then skidded to a halt before turning sharply on my paws, an idea forming in my head and I only hoped to whatever God that was out there that it worked.

_ “I hope this works!” _ I huffed out in a rush and closed my eyes tightly, growling low in my throat, my tail flicking around harshly.  _ “Onyx!” _ I yowled out, loud and clear as I opened my eyes, causing Akatsuki to skid to a halt before turning around to look at me, and I saw from the corner of my eyes that her own widened as she saw what happened next.

The moon shone brightly down on me as the same dark aura surrounded my body and I saw the hawk getting closer and I stood my ground, called out my Spirit Weapon once again.

_ “Onyx Blade!” _ In that instant, the large sword appeared in my mouth, my pure white canines clasping the weapon and I tried not to think about the heavy weight of the blade as I stared down the Kiseichu. I didn’t even care to think of what I looked like, in my Gem form as the cat I was.  _ “Come at me with all you got, you damn Kiseichu! I eat mindless birds like you!” _ I taunted, though it wasn’t necessarily true, unless you counted chicken and turkey, but I wasn’t so sure those counted. It screeched loudly, falling back when it saw the sword I had just summoned but I could tell the taunt pissed it off.

“Oh please, you can’t do much in that form my pretty little kitten.” I stumbled when I heard the familiar voice and groaned, my ears lowering to my head.  _ Damn it! Not him! Anyone but him! _ I whined in my head.

_ “Just leave me alone for once Kumo!” _ I hissed and Kumo appeared in the air beside his Kiseichu, which looked torn between staying by its master’s side or charging at and attacking me.  _ “Leave the area and take your mindless bird with you!” _

He laughed at this before speaking, “Mn, you know, for some strange reason, seeing you as a cat is a big turn on.” he smirked when my eyes widened and a shiver ran down my spine, a small grimace in my expression. And I  _ knew _ he was teasing me, trying to get on my nerves, but even still… that comment was taking it all bit too far.

_ “You’re a big headed, stupid, perverted, jackass!” _ I snapped and gripped my sword tighter, seeing that the hawk lifted up in the air again and I ran forward, jumping up into the air and performing a little flip,  _ “Dark Slash!” _ I shouted and twisted my blade around, dragging the heavy weight through the air and created a long black slash that hit the hawk spot on, but when I landed, I soon realized that all that attack did was just knock the bird down to the ground. Not even a few heartbeats later did it get up again, ruffling its feathers and looking at me with such a dark look that I thought for a moment that I would run and cower in fear.

Kumo laughed once again, his eyes alight with excitement and amusement. “It will take more than that to defeat this Kiseichu.” he said smugly and I growled, but before I could even think of attacking again, perhaps this time Kumo instead of the Kiseichu, I heard familiar barking and I quickly turned my head, eyes wide, when I spotted Kai, running towards me.

_ “Kai! What are you doing here!?” _ I questioned sharply and he practically beamed, his tail wagging furiously as he answered.

_ “I came to your help! Hai told me to take this with me when I went to find you, I don’t know why though.” _ He stopped before me and dropped a Ruby gemstone onto the ground. My eyes widened once more then, in shock and surprise, for so many different reasons. Like the fact that I could understand Kai now, and the fact that he just dropped a ruby in front of me. It was then that I got an idea that could help me out with the Kiseichu and that was almost the moment that I remember that Akatsuki was still standing, frozen, with her eyes wide, not even fifteen feet away from me.  _ Oops… _

_ “Akatsuki!” _ I directed my attention towards her and she broke free from the little spell that had taken hold of her, snapping her gaze from Kumo and back to me.  _ “Grab the stone and call out its name,” _ I said, my tone sharp and quick, as I once more attacked the charging bird with another Dark Slash, Kumo laughing at me in the background, and I barely noticed that she’d hesitantly nodded, walking over to me and the stone before picking it up and she did as told.

“R-Ruby!” she stuttered, her voice coming out strong, but any dumbass could tell she was scared. Then, at that moment, a red aura surrounded her and her entire appearance changed right before all of our eyes.

She now wore a red and white leotard outfit that had a small red skirt attached with white designs and small ruby stones lining the edge of the skirt. Her slippers were switched with red boots that had a white trim and she had on a single red fingerless glove upon her right hand. A medium sized ruby was placed on the glove, on the back of her hand; and it clicked in my mind that that was where her mark was. She also had on red arm cuffs on her upper arms that have a white mark on each of them. I noted that her hair also changed, much like mine had, and instead of being long and red, it was now down to her upper back and was pale-red with white tips.

And atop her head were red fox ears, and behind her swayed a long, fluffy red, white-tipped tail. Strangely enough her eyes also changed color; from hazel to red. Not blood red, but still red; really more the color of a...  _ a ruby… _ I realized with a start, eyes wide.

“Ack!” she fell back on her ass with a sharp gasp, clearly as startled as I had been when I first shifted, but that gasp snapped me from my own awe and I sighed a little, shaking my head.

_ “Come on, we don’t have time for this!” _ I insisted, glancing back at her with a small pleading look in my eyes,  _ “You can complain about this later! Just call out a damn weapon and help me! Please!” _ I growled when the bird tried attacking me again and I ducked out of the way before attacking back, knocking it back once more before looking back at Akatsuki and saw the frightened look on her face. It almost made me pity her, but then again, I didn’t have truly have anyone to help me out the first time, and Hai was a bastard, so...

I turned back to the bird and saw Kumo had disappeared.  _ Ah perfect, one less problem to deal with... _ I thought and my ears twitched when I heard the girl speak.

“O-okay....” she said, shakily, and held out her hand, hesitant. “H-heart Bow...” she added after some thought and almost,  _ almost _ , freaked when she saw a red bow appear in her hand, with red rubies lining the surface and white marks surrounded each of them.

_ “Now call out an attack and help me finish off this stupid parasite.” _ I added in a semi-calm manner, striking back the bird once again, getting tired and annoyed of this. If only it was as easy as that snake had been.

She nodded, this time with more confidence than before and stood up back up now, holding up her bow. “Fox Arrow!” she shouted and in an instant, a white arrow appeared in her other hand and she set it up, the sharp red spear aiming for the bird. She released the arrow and before it had a chance to hit its intended mark, I jumped up into the air and swung the blade around me.

_ “Dark Slash!” _ I called out and no sooner had I done so, did both of our attacks hit the hawk, making it screech in pain before it exploded into hundreds of tiny black feathers just like the snake had and then they disappeared, leaving a small pale aura sphere in their place. I sighed and landed on my paws, finally addressing the little wolf, who had stayed a respective distance from the fight.  _ “Go on Kai, it’s all yours.” _

_ “Yes!” _ he barked happily and immediately bounced over to the sphere, jumping up and catching it. He played around with it for a few moments before devouring the sphere whole and I frowned curiously at him.  _ Strange how he can do that… just eat them and make them disappear forever. Must be a pretty rare creature, I wonder how Hai managed to find him…  _ My thoughts were cut off though, when Akatsuki spoke once more.

“Alright then...” I lifted my head to look at her, and noted that she was looking down and around at herself, pulling at her ears and tilting her hips to the sides to get a better look at her tail. Her bow had disappeared already and I followed suit, allowing my blade to disappear as well. “Tell me what the hell is going on! Because right now... I’m kinda totally freaked!” she looked down at me when she finished talking and I almost laughed.

_ “Nearly the same reaction I had when I found out I was a Spirit too.” _ I said when my laughter died down to a light chuckle and I walked back to the fountain. Hopping up onto the surface, I looked down into the water, my eyes wide with awe when I caught a good look at myself.

Golden marks covered my once completely black fur and a black and gold mask was placed upon my face. I noted that it surrounded my ears and eyes and stopped at a point on my muzzle; on the mask, in the exact middle of my forehead, was my gem. My paws, all four of them, now had small black and gold cuffs on them, and around my neck was a black and gold chest plate that circled my neck like a collar but reached my chest at a point, leaving my back, sides and belly completely exposed.  _ Oh… so that’s why I feel kinda heavy… _ I mused, smirking as I realized I absolutely adored what I looked like, with all this armor on me.

“You tell me exactly who you are, what you want with me, why I’m like this and what the hell that thing was.” Akatsuki suddenly demanded, coming to stand right behind me and I flicked my gaze over to her in slight annoyance.

_ “I already told you that my name was Ame, and that I’m a Spirit, just like you. That thing you just saw though, was a Kiseichu, a parasite created by demons, particularly the demon you saw earlier, Kumo.” _ I sighed and shook my head, rolling my eyes when I mentioned him and she grimaced.

“You mean that pervert that could fly? He’s a demon? Seriously!?” she questioned, a little unnerved and I didn’t blame her. I nodded to her questions; I didn’t bother verbally answering them, though.

_ “I feel that Hai and Doreiku may be able to explain this a lot better than I can; they’re the ones that helped me out when I first found out who and what I was.” _ I smiled in reassurance when she looked at me skeptically before she sighed, running her gloveless hand through her hair.

“Okay well, how do I change back?” she asked, the question soft and weary and I chuckled then, nodding my head.  _ Smart question, _ I thought, easily.

_ “Just think of the way you looked before you changed. And then afterwards, you and I need to take a walk to the café.” _ I said, jumping down from the fountain and I looked back up at her.  _ Wow, I never realized how tall she is like this…  _ She closed her eyes tightly and after a bit, the red aura surrounding her once more, she was back to normal; or as normal as you can get, anyway. I took a moment to change back into my ‘normal’ cat self, though I was a bit more than disappointed to have to lose the armor. I turned then to Kai, who had followed us to the back yard,  _ “Go back and tell Hai that I’ve just found a Spirit, and that I’m heading his way.”  _ I said, with a smile, and he nodded, barking in answer, before turning tail and racing off in the direction of the café.

“W-wait, you aren’t serious about me coming with you? Are you?” She asked and I ignored her, flicking my tail out as the only answer to her question and she, reluctantly, followed me back to the café, where hopefully all her questions would be answered and my job would get a whole lot easier.


	7. Chapter 6

“This is ridiculous!” Akatsuki yelled, in shock and anger and disbelief and fear, all mixing together to form one hell of a confusing emotional ride for her. We’d finally made it back to the café, the moon still shining full over head, and after explaining to Hai and Doreiku what had happened, leaving out, of course, the part about Kumo, Hai had decided to tell Akatsuki what he did for me, except that she was the Ruby carrier and not the Onyx one. Onyx is mine. “There is no way that I’m this supposed Ruby carrier!”

I sighed softly and lied down on the table, my head resting on my paws and my tail thumping quietly beside me, watching as she paced the floor, back and forth, until Hai finally couldn’t stand anymore of it. He groaned and let out a sharp noise in frustration and annoyance before standing up from his chair, reaching out and grabbing her wrist. “ _ This _ is _ proof _ that you are! This mark and how your gemstone reacts to your very presence are two very important notes to telling who you really are, Akatsuki.” Hai snapped, gritting his teeth together and for a moment I almost felt bad for him, until I saw Akatsuki look down at her hand, eyes wide as if seeing her birthmark for the first time.

Her birthmark was a small red moon that was placed in the middle of her right hand, on the back of it. It was hardly similar to my own paw print, but in a way, they were both the same as they told us exactly who were are what we’re meant to be.

_We’re Spirits, and no amount of work or denial can change that fact…_ _“You’re the Ruby carrier alright.”_ I murmured with another sigh and sat up a little. I was a tiny bit filthy, from walking and jumping around in dirt, fighting that stupid Kiseichu, so the only logical way that I could come up with was licking my paw and running it over the fur on my head. Hey, at least it worked, anyway.

I heard her huff and watched from the corner of my eyes as she crossed her arms. “Okay fine, so I’m this supposed Ruby carrier, but what does that mean for me?” she questioned, looking at me for the answers, I looked away with my eyes closed, a tiny bit annoyed.  _ I know I was the first one to technically discover this, but even still… I don’t just magically have all the answers… _

_ “Why are you asking me?” _ I huffed out, my eyes narrowed as I turned to Hai. I was barely even surprised when I noticed that he wasn’t paying any attention, obviously on purpose, and Doreiku was actually nowhere to be found at the moment _. “Alright, fine... I’ll tell you, but only what I know.” _ I finally said after a bit of silence and she nodded slowly, sitting down in the chair next to where I sat on the table.  _ “I’ll start from the beginning,” _ I shook my head lightly before looking up in thought as I tried to figure out what and how to say it all.  _ “There are seven of us in total, you, me, and five others. As well as seven gemstones. There’s Onyx, Ruby, Amethyst, Diamond, Jade, Sapphire, and Pearl.” _ Waving my paw around as show, I counted off each gem in my head, looking back at Akatsuki and noticed her staring at the little red Ruby in her own hand.  _ “Hai and Doreiku told me that we’re called the Jeweled Spirits, because of what we are and what we carry inside our souls and I know we’re here for a reason: to defeat those that call themselves the Black Demons and help protect our home. So far, I’ve only met one of them, Kumo, the vampire you met earlier when we were fighting that Kiseichu.” _ I shook my head again, ridding my mind of thoughts of the vampire when I mentioned him and continued on,  _ “Anyway, the Jeweled Spirits have one thing in common: we all have what is called a Gem Soul inside of us. It’s what allows us to connect with our Spirit animal and our gemstone.” _ I finished, nodding to her and her stone, smiling a little before I yawned, the single action causing all my thoughts to halt. It was then that I realized something important:  _ “What time is it?” _ I questioned, frowning a little.

“It’s one in the morning,” Doreiku called out from wherever the hell he was, and as I looked around, trying to determine exactly where, I noticed Akatsuki’s eyes widening and for a moment, I was a tiny bit confused…

…until she spoke, “Oh no! My show! I missed it...” she gasped out and lowered her head, hiding her face with her hands and I made a small noise in realization. “My brother is probably worried sick about me now...” she added before standing up and she turned towards the door, getting ready to leave.

_ “I’ll walk you back.” _ I purred, stretching out as I yawned once more, before jumping from the table and padded over to her side, careful to keep a safe distance from her feet.

“You? Walk  _ me _ back? But you’re just a cat.” she snickered, and I could literally hear the smirk in her tone of voice. I ruffled my fur, growling low in my throat as I continued to stare straight ahead and only answered when we walked through the café doors. I waited until they closed behind us before speaking, saving her the embarrassment of having Hai hear her being insulted by a cat.

_ “I can still protect you better than you can protect yourself.” _ I didn’t hear anything else from her on the walk back to her mansion.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

When we’d finally gotten back to her home, we said our goodbye’s and I only turned away, when she was safe inside the brick walls of the mansion. Letting out a soft sigh, I made my way to the park, where I jumped up onto the fountain's edge and lied down on the surface, staring down into the water and at my still bleak reflection.

Despite the thoughts in my head, I was still rather proud of myself,  _ “Well then, that’s one found, and only five more to go.” _ I murmured while lying my head on my paws, my ears twitching as my tail fell gently beside me. A watched as a strangely genuine smile makes its way to my muzzle and for a moment, all is silent, until I’m yawning again, and I decide then to get some sleep.  _ “I wonder... what’s in store for me... tomorrow?” _ I asked myself through another yawn and closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep without another thought in mind.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

I watched quietly as Akatsuki put on the last finishing touches of her café uniform. Like my own, it was nearly identical to her Gem form, though I did notice a few differences. After all, you can’t truly replicate something given to you by the Spirits.

She was wearing a red dress, now, with white designs on it and I saw small red rubies surrounding the bottom edge of it. On her hands were a pair of red gloves that reached her elbows, each with a white trim; on her head was a thin, red and white headband that held her bangs back from getting into her face. Her shoes though, were more like those ballerina slippers, red with a picture of a strange white fox-like picture on each.

_ I wonder how Hai and Doreiku ever manage to come across these things… they fit us so perfectly, well, aside from the obvious of course, and the colors are a near perfect match. _ I shook my head, ridding my thoughts, when I heard Akatsuki speak, addressing me.

“Okay, so let me get this straight,” she started, staring at herself in the mirror with a small frown on her lips, “I have to come work for you guys and help in the search for the other so-called members of the Jeweled Spirits?”

I nodded, just a tad bit annoyed with how she worded her question,  _ “Yeah, pretty much...” _ I sighed after jumping down from the table and I went to the door.

“Where are you going, Ame?” Hai questioned, coming into the room, judging by his footsteps, and I barely flicked my tail to the side as a show of acknowledgement that I heard him say anything to me at all.

_ “Out.” _ I murmured, mostly to myself and nosed the door open.

“Hey, Ame,” I turned back to him, ears twitching in curiosity, “be careful out there and try not to get yourself hurt.” He said, and though it was said with a smirk, I could see the underlying worry in his eyes, and that was enough for me not to spit back at him before leaving.

I did, however, roll my eyes, a gentle hidden smile on my own muzzle, and I turned back towards the door, slipping through it and letting it close behind me. Walking down to the lake, I jumped up and climbed my way up to the very top of a small lamp post, staring out at the lake and then lifting my gaze up to stare at the night sky.

_ “Okay, I have at least three more hours left with being a cat. And then I can go back to my normal self and continue with everything I can’t do in this form.” _ I said, soft and quiet, trying to figure out what to do. I knew that I still had the other five to look for, but I didn’t even know where to begin to look. I didn’t even have a clue as to if they were even in Kazanai to begin with.

Closing my eyes tightly, I lowered my head and let my thoughts wander, my tail gently swaying back and forth in the gentle breeze and my ears twitching every so often. It wasn’t until I felt arms wrap around me that I broke from my thoughts and my eyes snapped wide open, a startled ‘mrrow’ leaving my muzzle. Struggling, I tried to figure out what was going on,  _ But that’s impossible! No one can reach me up here!  _ I thought with a frantic and frightened hiss, struggling harder against the other’s tight hold.

“Heh, even in your cat form, you are just so adorable. I’m really glad now that I chose you to be mine.” I froze, immediately recognising the voice and I growled low in my throat, unsheathing my claws and trying to scratch at the vampire’s arms.

_ “I will never... be yours!” _ I yowled and my anger only boiled once more when I heard him chuckle.

“I beg to differ,” he whispered and I finally managed to jump out of his grasp, completely freaked out from the tone in his voice. I only realized a second too late what I did and I yelped, landing hard on the ground and rolling in the dirt and grass.

Puffing out a harsh sigh, I stood up shakily and shook my fur, grimacing at the taste of dirt in my mouth. _I am clearly never doing that again…_ I thought bitterly before adding as a second thought, _Note to self: cats don’t always land on their feet._ _“What do you want with me Kumo...?”_ I asked, getting into what I liked to know as a predatory position, ready to strike my opponent with all I have and most definitely ready to use my gem if need be.

“I figured since you’re just in your cat form for right now, and you won’t be changing back to your normal self for an hour or so,” he grinned and his eyes showed a hint of something dangerous, and-  _ hang on a second! When did two hours pass by so quickly!? _ “I could play around with you, just for a bit.”

_ “P-play around with... m-me?” _ I backed away from him, lowering my ears, my paws shaking slightly as they touched the ground.

“Precisely.” He held out both his hands, a smirk on his face, as he summoned both of his blades. I felt myself tense up, bristling as I hissed and glared at him.

_ “You’d attack a defenseless cat!?” _ I growled at him and he let out a loud laugh.

“Oh?” Dashing forward he swiped both of his swords at me and barely managed to jump out of the way in time, “We both know that you are anything but defenseless.” He smirked, his tone a bit cold and fierce, and I jumped out of the way once more when he tried attacking me again. I made a small noise of shock and fear when I realized he was backing me up against a tree and I tried to stand my ground, acting tougher than I felt.

_ “Again with the pinning against a tree thing!?” _ I barely held back the whine in my voice before finally seeing my chance and he jumped up, out and away from the spot he barely had me pinned against, when he slashed at me. I managed to jump onto his head, launching myself behind him and I turned around sharply in the air,  _ “Onyx!” _ I hissed out, watching as the familiar black aura surrounded me and I felt the heavy presence of my armor appear upon my body.  _ “Onyx Blade!” _ I wasted no time in calling out my Spirit Weapon, still in mid-air with his back still towards me and I spun around, bringing my sword through the air twice to create a new version of the Dark Slash.  _ “Black Cross!” _ What I didn’t actually count on was for the attack hit Kumo square in the back, knocking him forward onto the ground.

When he hit the ground, I’d managed to land softly on my paws and I stood up straight, panting heavily around my blade, staring at him and trying to conceal my excitement.  _ I can’t believe I actually managed to hit him! _

_ “You’re right; I’m not a defenseless cat. And you should know by now, not to mess with me.” _ I growled out, trying to play up the act, and then I heard him laugh, watching as his shoulders shook with the force of it. My ears perked up before lowering as I narrowed my eyes at him, severely confused and maybe just a tiny bit hurt.  _ “Why are you laughing!?” _ I questioned, taking a step forward on one paw before freezing when I saw him disappear.  _ “What-!?” _ I gasped out, unable to believe it, and I looked around frantically.  _ He… he did that on purpose! He let me hit him! That’s… I can’t believe… no! That’s not…! Damn it! “That’s not fair!” _ I shouted out into the emptiness, feeling my anger dissipating and the fear returned, along with a different emotion.  _ I thought I actually won this time! …what’s going on…? Why is he just playing with me…? Why can’t he just… just… _ I shook my head and ridded my thoughts, as they were so dangerously close to crossing into extremely new territory and I let out an embarrassingly loud squeak when I heard his voice behind me.

“You’re so very far from winning, little kitten.” He laughed, as if he was having so much fun, and I quickly turned around, eyes wide before they narrowed when I saw that he had not even a scratch on him.  _ No! It’s one thing to tease me, but it’s another to let me think that I… fuck! He’ll pay for this! _

_ “Damn you!” _ I hissed, sharp and dark, but then all my thoughts were coming to an abrupt halt, the train in my mind crashing so violently, I didn’t know what to do, as he reached out, quicker than I could ever manage to jump away, and he grabbed me by the neck. Holding me up at eye level, he smirked as I gripped tightly at his wrist, my claws digging into his arm, and I was so close to not being able to breathe.  _ “K-Kumo...” _ I pleaded, gasping for breath,  _ “L-let me.... g-go..!” _

“You, my little kitten, have no power over me.” he smirked at me and tightened his grip, causing me to mewl out in pain. I closed my eyes tightly and tried shaking my head. I tried doing everything and anything I could, my tail flicking out as I tried kicking up my back paws to scratch at him, to make him let me go. I was scared to death and I felt so helpless.

_ “P-please! I-I...... I c-can’t... b-breathe!” _ I tried to struggle free, but he refused to let go. He laughed, but he did eventually loosen his grip, just enough to let me breathe a little better and when I stopped fighting, he shook his head and finally threw me onto the ground. Rolling a few times, I came to a stop, covered in dirt and grass, below the towering tree from before and I whimpered, panting heavily.  _ I don’t… understand… _

I realized I’d lost my weapon a while ago, the sword dropped to the ground earlier, before Kumo had gotten a hold of me, and it disappeared without a single trace. Involuntarily changing back to my normal form, still as a cat, I looked up towards the horizon and watch as the moon slowly rose above the lake, casting a beautiful silver glow upon the water’s surface. _ I guess my time like this is up...  _ I thought to myself and let out a weary sigh, shaking my head before turning back to Kumo when he started walking towards me once more.

“So powerless against me,” he repeated those words and I was starting to get sick and tired of hearing them.

_ “J-just... leave me the fuck alone....” _ I hissed, closing my eyes tightly as I changed into my human form and when I opened my eyes once more, I stood up, shakily, leaning back against the rough bark of the tree. “W-what... do you want... from me...?” I repeated the question I’d asked a while back, and he just barely allowed a smirk to cross his lips.

“Everything,” he whispered, so softly and so gently, that I almost thought for a moment that everything was okay… it wasn’t even a few heartbeats later when I felt a pinch to my neck. Sucking in a sharp breath, I was barely able to do a thing as exhaustion won over and I fainted, everything around me, including Kumo, fading to black.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

When I woke up, the first thing that I noticed was the sharp pain that spiked through me, stemming from my sides, my hand, my head, and my neck. The second thing I noticed was that I was surrounded by people; there were familiar voices all around me, including Sesu’s, and I could only guess then where I was. I cracked one eye open, grimacing and hissing slightly and I tried to move, and it was then that my guess was right: my dorm room. I could tell then who was around me; along with Sesu, I saw Samyueru, Joshu, and surprisingly, Hai.

“Ame!” Samyueru was once again the first to notice me, this time being that I was now finally awake, and he nearly bounced on his feet in worry and relief and excitement and happiness.  _ Loud… _ I thought weakly, flinching back when it finally registered just how loud his voice sounded.

“Hn...” was all the noise I made in reply, smiling weakly and barely raising a hand in a weak salute. I turned my attention to Hai, who sat idly on the dresser between mine and Sesu’s beds. I noticed that there was a book in his hands that he was pretending to read, but I could see that he was watching me from the corner of his eyes.

“I’m surprised you woke up.” He said, speaking in a short and sharp tone, telling me just how worried and mad he was because of what happened. “Usually people don’t wake up for at least a day or two without recovering from their injuries, such as the one you got.” he said, motioning to my neck and I numbly reached my hand up to it, brushing my fingers gently over the two puncture wounds that were nearly identical as well as parallel. It was then that I remembered what happened; the sharp pinching feeling I’d gotten before I fainted and I closed my eyes before letting out a sharp, heavy breath.

“How long?”

“Only two hours.” Joshu said, shrugging his shoulders when I opened my eyes again, turning my attention back to them.

“It looks like you were beaten up by a really mean bully and then bitten by one of those creepy bat things!” Samyueru exclaimed, flailing his arms about and I chuckled at the kids’ imagination.

“Yeah, it feels that way too.” I mumbled softly, turning my head away. I wasn’t actually going to tell them the truth; that what really happened was that I’d been beaten by Kumo once more and just before I fainted, he bit me. I’ve never been bitten before now, but I can tell you that it is most definitely not fun; especially not if you were tossed around like ragdoll just moments before.

I struggled to sit up, wincing a little at the sharp pain from my sides, but I ignored it and instead looked to Hai. I hoped he would get what I was trying to ask, by the look in my eyes and lucky me, he did, but he only just shrugged as he answered.

“You were lying on the ground beside a tree, no one was around you when Akatsuki and I found you.” he answered and I sighed, shaking my head a little before removing my blanket and I got up from my bed, ignoring the protests from my friends and I made my way to the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

Though everything hurt, even my head, it was the spot where Kumo bit me that hurt the most. Locking the door behind me, I ignored Sesu’s voice calling after me, and I walked over to the mirror, grimacing when I saw the pale reflection that stared back at me. I looked myself over and saw that I was covered in cuts and bruises that I really actually didn’t care about. Instead I found my gaze soon being pulled to the bite mark upon my neck and I reached up, hesitantly, before touching it again, unsure what the think. A large bruise was there, where he’d bitten me and I found that the skin around it was slightly red.

“Damn him...” I cursed at Kumo and I cursed at myself for being such a moron, to even get into that situation, and before I could even think of anything more, I grabbed some bandages out of the drawer. I wrapped some around my neck and then wrapped the other bandages around my forehead, covering up my birthmark. Making up my mind, I dug into a cabinet beneath the sink, pulling out a box and grabbing out my jacket, having put it there before leaving the dorms to go to the café, on the night of the full moon.

I sighed in relief, seeing it still intact I felt inside the pocket, pleased that my gem was in there. I didn’t bother thinking about Kai, knowing he was safe back at the café. Shaking my head, I let a wry smile come to my face before going over to the window and opening it, slipping on the jacket before descending down a sturdy pipe that was just outside the window.

Landing safely on the ground, after a minute or two, I looked back up, staring at the window before turning my attention away, putting my hood up. Taking that first step away from the dorms, I made my way out of the school grounds and back towards the park.

The moon was still up, shining brightly high up in the sky, telling me it really had only been just a few hours since my fight with Kumo.  _ Great… which means the bastard could still be around… _ I thought, slumping my shoulders. I didn’t know what I would do if I ran into him again; sometimes I seriously need to start thinking before I do these kinds of things. Though, at the moment, all I could focus on was the pain I felt, and the heaviness of my heart.

I ran my fingers through my hair, feeling more than a bit weak. I will never understand the thoughts that go through his head; but I wish I knew… Then I could maybe understand why he was doing this and why he’d already done what he did.

“But why the hell did he bite me!?” I growled, nearly shouting into the empty space around me as I trudged along on the sidewalk below me. Ruffling my hair, I groaned before coming to a full on stop, eyes wide.

“Heh, if you’re talking about my brother, then I’m sorry about what he’s done.” Turning around sharply, I frowned in confusion when I saw the one who spoke: a rather tall man with semi-long blonde hair and silver colored eyes. He wore a plain white long sleeve shirt and a pair of black slacks, something that kinda made him a little… normal looking.

“Your brother?” I questioned, soft and unsure.  _ Is he… another demon…? _ He nodded to my question and held out his hand, taking a step forward.

“My name is Ite.” I took a step back when he did and turned my head to the side, growling a little. This didn’t seem to bother him, as he chuckled, a bit of a smirk on his face. “Ah, I see, won’t shake hands with me,” he started and I glanced at him, my eyes narrowed, “but you’ll kiss my brother?” This had me turning back towards him so fast I thought I would fall, for sure, but instead I just clenched my fists and glared at him, bristling with anger.

“First of all, no,” I hissed through gritted teeth, “I won’t do any greetings with a damned demon, and for your information, he kissed me! Twice!” I shouted at him, reaching my hand into my pocket.

“Easy, I was only teasing,” he waved his hands in front of him in a sign of defense and I frowned, so confused, but still incredibly upset. “I know that and I’m sorry on his behalf.” With a shake of his head, he sighed a little before smiling again.

“I don’t want an apology; I want to be left alone.” I snapped at him and he hummed, nodding his head.

“I’ll send the message along, but I can’t be sure he’ll listen to me.” Ite began to casually walk towards me and he brushed past where I stood; we were practically shoulder to shoulder when he added, “Be warned though, this is a one time chat between us. The next time you and I see each other, it won’t be for a friendly hello.”

I growled lightly, nodding my head sharply in answer. “Duly noted.” I seethed and watched from the corner of my eyes as he disappeared.  _ Ite... Kumo’s brother... huh? _ I thought to myself with a small frown and I sighed, closing my eyes and rubbing a hand over my face.  _ I wonder if he’s a vampire too… or if he’s something even more dangerous. _

The moment I’d seen Ite, I knew something was definitely different about him. He had this strange aura around him, something that frightened me more than Kumo did, I’ll admit. And right now, it was something I most definitely did not like. Sighing in frustration, I shook my head once more,  _ I’m not sure how if I can handle having to fight someone stronger than Kumo… let alone both at the same time. I can’t even handle Kumo on my own… _

I lowered my head and began walking back to the treehouse, where I would hopefully be able to get some sort of peace on my own. “I wonder... how much more of this... I can actually take...?” I questioned to myself in a barely there whisper.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

It wasn’t long after when I reached the park and I came to my treehouse, sitting down against the tree instead of climbing up it and sitting inside. Closing my eyes once more, I began thinking to myself about today’s earlier events. It wasn’t until at least a half an hour later, when I was about to doze off, that I heard Kumo’s voice once more.

“Hey there, kitty kat,” he murmured in a soft tone and I noted, with a pathetic flutter of my heart, the oddly sweet but seductive hint to his voice.


	8. Chapter 7

I closed my eyes tighter and clenched my fists, resting them in my lap while letting my hair cover my face. I wanted so bad to get up and punch him, to make sure he never got up again; but I also wanted to cower and curl up into a ball, to disappear or run away so I wouldn’t ever have to see him again. And it made me feel sick, knowing that he had this effect on me.  _ I’m not a coward… I’m not supposed to be afraid. I’m not… not supposed to be… a scaredy cat. _ Oh how ironic that is…

“Heh, typical. One mistake and you can’t even look at me,” I could hear his footsteps getting louder, along with the mock-pout to his voice and I trembled; whether with anger or fear, I didn’t know yet. “But no matter, I can still see you shaking with anger with every word I speak.” _ Oh… I guess he knew… _ I lowered my head further, clenching my fists tighter, drawing blood, causing it to flow freely through the small gaps in my hand and I sucked in a sharp breath when the smell of it hit my nose, when it fell to the blades of grass below where I sat.

He stopped walking then and knelt down, reaching out one of his cold hands and he placed it on my cheeks. I didn’t even care that it made me physically flinch, the back of my head barely knocking against the tree behind me. “Don’t...” I hissed as he played with a single lock of my hair and I finally snapped my head up, throwing out my fist and connecting it with the side of his face, causing him to stumble backwards as I finished my sentence, “touch me!” Standing up weakly, I could actually feel myself trembling with the anger now, my blood boiling. But I felt as if I were falling apart, so close to tears as I was. I just hope he couldn’t see how close I was to breaking.

I watched as he sat up slowly, placing a hand on the cheek I hit and he smirked, clearly very pleased. “So you do still have some fighting spirit left, and here I thought you were done, after what I did.” He practically purred out and I bristled, growling at him.

“Shut the hell up Kumo!” I snapped at him as he stood up and I grabbed out my gem.  _ I don’t know if I’m strong enough to change, but it’s most definitely worth a shot! _

“Do you honestly think you can use your gem? It has only been three hours since you’ve last used it, and look how that turned out.” He gestured to the bruises and cuts on my body and I whimpered a little at the memory but shook my head fiercely.

“I couldn’t care less if it worked! Either way, I’ll be damned if I let you get away with what you did to me!” The grip had on my stone tightened and I let out a sharp breath through my nose. He laughed at me again and I cringed at how loud it sounded, a wave of nausea hitting me at full blast. _ Oh great, now I have a headache. _

“Like I said before, you can’t ever get rid of me, my sweet little kitten.” he said and I leaned against the tree, growling in frustration, my free hand coming up to rest on my head.

“I... am n-not.... your.... a-anyth....anything.” I breathed out and he smirked.

“Oh but you are. You’ve been bitten,” his smirk widened and I saw amusement in his eyes, telling me that what he said was a double meaning, though I had no idea what he could’ve meant other than a physical bite, “and soon when I feel the need is right, you will become mine completely. Just you wait.”

I grimaced and lowered my hand to the bite mark, which was now stinging worse than when I’d first woken up. “So, you vampires actually do do that whole ownership thing by biting the other...” I chuckled lightly without any feeling in it at all and stood up as best I could.

“You know a lot about vampires, then, do you?” He sounded more amused than curious, when he asked the question and I couldn’t help the smirk that crossed my lips as I tilted my head to the side.

“I know nearly everything that there is to know about you stupid demons.” I said in a harsh tone, suddenly regaining what control I had over my emotions and my fear. This seemed to surprise him, the tone in my voice, but that only made my smirk grow wider and I adjusted my grip on the stone in my hand. “Onyx…” I murmured in a soft, weak tone and I changed into my Gem form, the black aura completely shrouding around me for just a few moments longer than normal.

His amused look turned quickly cold and he held out his hands, ready to summon his blades.

“How pathetic,” I huffed out softly with a bitter tone. “A panther losing a battle to a stupid, cold-hearted, self-centered, perverted, bastard of a vampire.” I said in a softer but colder voice as I held out my hand to summon the blade without even having to call out its name; picturing my weapon clearly inside my head and it materialized as easily as if I’d spoken the Spirit Weapon’s name. I gripped the blade tightly and started to walk, weakly but firmly, towards him.

He backed up slightly and I watched as he summoned his blades, his eyes narrowed in a fierce and dark glare, watching my every movement just as I was watching his.

My tail flicked from side to side calmly and my ears were up and alert, listening to and noting every sound that passed by me, that surrounded us. When I finally got to where there was at least a five foot gap, I quickly made my move before he could even blink, jumping up into the air; I flipped over his head like I had done when I was a cat and slashed my sword around twice, creating a Black Cross. He’d turned around, though, just as quick as I had, when he realized what I was doing, and he jumped backwards to avoid the attack easily.

“You may have gotten me with that attack last time, but I won’t let it happen again.” he said and I had to keep myself from scoffing as I landed harshly on the ground, my balance completely off-put. I barely noticed that he’d dashed forward before I even did so and managed to righted myself after a few heartbeats and I leaped out of the way from his attack, rolling onto the ground before getting up. I held out my blade to block another attack and I tried to push him back, away from me and perhaps get him off his feet.

“Fuck off Kumo!” I snapped at him and slashed my sword at him several times, not giving him a chance to counter, even as he managed to block each and every one of the swings. But with each one, I was able to push him back little by little.

“Give it up!” he growled at me and jumped upwards before I had the chance to attack him again. My eyes widened when I felt him come up behind me his arms wrapped now around my waist and his swords both crossed at my throat, keeping me frozen in place. “I try and try to reason with you, but you keep fighting back.” he hissed into my ears and they twitched as I visibly flinched.

“All you’re doing is giving me more reasons to hate you.” I tried to growl back, but it came out as a pathetic squeak when I felt the blades at my neck tighten against my skin. I whimpered lightly as I felt a slight sting to the places where the blades met my skin and gulped, closing my eyes. “Go back, to your brothers... and leave this place alone....”

“You didn’t say to leave you alone, what’s with the change of heart, little kit?” he whispered, a smirk heard clearly in his voice as he spoke in a tone that matched the one I’d used earlier, mocking me now that I was powerless against him.

I took a deep breath and let a long sigh, flinching again when the blades cut into the skin on my neck and I felt little drops of blood drip down, soaking the shirt I wore. “I care more about my friends and my home, than I do about myself.” I hissed and he laughed, causing me to whimper in pain at how loud it was, even more so when he was this close to my ears. “Damn you...” I growled and he let go of his grip, making his weapons disappear.

“Well then, now at least, I know how to get you to be mine.” he whispered to himself and I turned towards him, as quick as lightning, with a low growl and a venomous glare directed at him.

“If you ever hurt one of my friends,” I began, the grip on my blade tightening, as I realized I still had a hold on it, “I will take this blade and destroy you.” I seethed as I brought it up in front of me with all my strength and pointed it towards him, directing towards where his heart is supposed to be. “Got that, Kumo?” I hissed out his name like it was cursed and barely managed to get out a low growl that’d almost gotten stuck in my throat.

“I would very much like to see you carry out that threat,” he replied in a normal tone with another smirk upon his lips and then he disappeared at the sound of another voice.

“Hey Ame! Are you here?” I heard Sesu’s voice and gasped, quickly, but painfully changing back into my normal self, holding myself up weakly with the last of my strength.

“Yeah, I’m here.” I sighed before walking in the direction of Sesu’s voice and saw him running towards me with Samu at his heels. I smiled softly.  _ It’s good to have friends who care. _

“Hey, you look terrible!” Samu exclaimed, a worried look on his face. Sesu also had a worried look, but it was much more... caring, I guess the word would be, than Samu’s.

“Ame, you shouldn’t be up and walking like this.” he said with a frown before reaching a hand up to my shoulder and I flinched at his touch. He quickly removed his hand and stared at me with wide eyes. “Ame! What happened to you!? You look even worse than before.” I let out a small and emotionless laugh at this, shaking my head, barely holding back a wince when I felt the cuts on my neck.

“I got into another fight.” I mumbled and he crossed his arms, eyes narrowed.

“Okay, you’re going back to the room.” he said, before grabbing my arm and draping it around his shoulders, helping me walk back. I just hung my head low with a small frown of my own.  _ How did I ever get into this mess? _ I asked myself, remembering that this all started with a visit from an annoying cousin of mine.  _ I really, seriously dislike her... _

“A-ame!” Samu cried out, when I stumbled, exhaustion and the pain taking over.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Kumo growled lightly as he sat up against a pillar, his eyes were closed and he was deep in thought. He didn’t understand why Ame was being so stubborn! He’d practically already been claimed, so why didn’t he just give up? It would make things so much easier for him,  _ and for me.  _ Kumo added in his thoughts. _

_ “You really should be nicer to that little cat.” His brother Ite said to him, leaning back against his own pillar, and Kumo looked up at the blonde with a vicious glare. He hated when Ite and the others always got into his business,  _ The kitty-kat is mine and mine alone, so he should just fuck off and stay out of my own business.

_ “Shut up Ite.” Kumo seethed as he stood up, but he sighed anyway, looking away before unclenching his hand to reveal a keychain that had belonged to Ame, the one that held that little wolf’s Spirit inside it. _

_ Ites eyes went wide when he saw the keychain. “Tell me you didn’t steal that from him, did you?” Though he truly was unnerved by what his brother could possibly be planning, his voice was laced with fake concern and he watched as Kumo smirked. _

_ “Yeah, I did.” _ Once I figured out where the pup was, it was easy to take the wolf out from under Hai’s and Doreiku’s noses. Getting the wolf to become a keychain again was a bit more difficult, but I managed. _ “And with this, I can surely win Ame over as mine.” he laughed and Ite just shook his head as another demon, with white hair, came into the room, his eyes narrowed, though it was clear he didn’t care a single damn bit. _

_ “You do realise, using that little cat’s pet against him will make him hate you even more, right Kumo?” the demon said and Ite nodded in simple agreement when Kumo looked up and glared at them both, before sighing and he shook his head, tossing the keychain up into the air and catching it, repeating the action a few times with a little smirk. _

_ “It’s a simple game, Rekkusu. If I use this little wolf against him, he won’t want to fight it, so he’ll just have to agree to my terms in order for me to let the poor animal go.” His plan was brilliant, he thought, and surely it would go off without a hitch. _

_ “Don’t be so sure, Kumo. If what I know from our first meeting is correct, he’s a smart one and he won’t fall for something as simple and cruel as that.” Ite said softly while Kumo just gripped the keychain tightly. He then shook his head again and looked up at the two with a wide grin as many emotions shone in his blood colored eyes: a glint of hope, pride, pleasure, love and... sadness. _

_ “He will be mine.” he said, finally after a few moments, clearing away the deafening silence. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

It’s been a couple days since the last time I met with the damn vampire, and the entire time I had been bed ridden, all because Sesu was mad at me for leaving and getting even more hurt.  _ ‘Come on Sesu, it’s just a few tiny scratches I don’t need to-’  _ Of course, after a sharp glare from Sesu and him having to threaten to lock me inside the room, I’d reluctantly went along with the ridiculous thing.

He’s still a little mad though, but I didn’t care as long as he still talked to me to let me know he still cared enough.

If anything, Sesu was like the big brother I never had. It felt good to know that he was still with me no matter what happened or how stupid I was being. And that’s exactly what I needed, friends and family that would care for me and who would help me in my times of need.

“Are you sure you’re feeling well enough to work?” Akatsuki asked me and I sighed softly, getting dressed in my uniform.

“After being bedridden for three days, yeah, I feel just peachy,” I mumbled as I came out of the bathroom, waiting for her reaction when she saw me in the outfit. I watched as her eyes widened when she saw me and she clamped her hands over her mouth to try and keep from laughing. Groaning, I rolled my eyes and walking over to the main doors of the café, flipping the sign outside so it said ‘OPEN’ and opening the door to let in the nice day breeze. “I know... I look like a girl.”

“You look ridiculous in that outfit!” she couldn’t keep her laughter in anymore after that and I glared meekly at her, watching as Hai came into the room.

“His Gem form is even cuter than this one, especially with his little cat ears and his cute little tail.” he teased, smirking at me when I hissed at him.

“Hai, do you really want me to hit you again?” I asked him, trying to control my temper. I was seriously so close to blowing up, either taking my blade on him or just grabbing the stone and throwing it at the bastard’s head.  _ Fuck being a Spirit… _ I sighed and then frowned, becoming lost in thought,  _ Speaking of Spirits... I haven’t seen Kai around at all, not even the keychain.  _ I thought and my frown became just a tiny bit worried, and I closed my eyes tightly.  _ I hope he didn’t get lost...  _ I thought of all the possible whereabouts Kai could be and shivered when they turned a bit dark.

“Hello... Earth to Ame.” I was brought back to reality when Akatsuki waved her hand infront of my face and I glared at her, though in truth I was grateful to be brought from my thoughts.

“Oh leave me alone...” I muttered bitterly before turning and I got on with my job, setting the tables and making sure everything was in place and easily attainable by customers.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ I looked around sharply, my hands gripping my blade tightly as my ears were lowered to my head and my tail flicked around nervously. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I was scared to find out. The air around me was thick with a demonic aura, but there was also a calm familiar one, hidden within the other. It only took a few seconds before I recognised the second aura and I smiled wide, my ears twitching in excitement. _

_ “Kai!” I called out, but there was no answer. Tilting my head in confusion I took a few steps forward in the dark area. “Kai! Where are you!?” I tried to call out again, but still I got nothing in return; not a single bark or even a little whine.  _ Where is he…? Is he hiding…? Why…? _ I waited and waited, and after a few minutes or so, I heard a very low, very dark and incredibly dangerous growl reverberated through the air, that caused my every being too tense and freeze up. _

_ “K-Kai...?” I choked out and took a few steps back when I was able to regain a bit of my strength in my legs; the growling only became louder. In the distance, I could see two very faint gold dots, and when they got closer, I realized that they were eyes; large, narrow, golden eyes that were staring directly at me. “Kai! ...Kai... what’s wrong?” _

_ I narrowed my eyes in concern and in fear as I stared back at the black figure in front of me. Kai was larger than he should be, nearly ten times his normal size, and his eyes showed no emotions as he stared at me, still growling fiercely. _

_ “Kai... it’s me, Ame...!” I lowered my blade, when I thought that I wouldn’t need it, and smiled the best I could. I walked towards him, slowly, but was immediately stopped by something else: a voice that was dark, cold, and as harsh as the air around me. _

_ “He won’t listen to you anymore. He can’t, he doesn’t remember you.” I heard the vicious laugh and then a fierce growl from Kai, causing fear to spike through me once more and I backed up a few more feet, my body trembling. _

_ “No, that can’t be.” I whispered and then dropped my blade, barely caring that it disappeared on contact with a loud, metallic clang that echoed around me. “Kai, it’s me, your best friend... Don’t you remember me? Ame?” I was desperate now, trying again to walk towards him, but I was once again stopped in my tracks, this time when someone grabbed my wrist and I was jerked back, my eyes impossibly wide. _

_ “It’s no use, so just give up.” the voice spoke again and I choked back my tears. _

_ “What did you do to him? What did you do to Kai!?” I shouted into the darkness and the grip on my wrist disappeared. _

_ “Get him,” was all the voice said and I turned sharply, looking back at Kai only to see him crouching low, his tails lashing out, and my eyes widened, fear freezing my very core. _

_ Finally, Kai jumped at me and I closed my eyes tightly as I screamed, my voice echoing all around me. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

“Kai!” I jolted awake, breathing heavily as tears streaked down my face. “I-it was just a dream...” I breathed out and sat upright, burying my face into my hands; I didn’t even try to stop the tears. “Damn it... why did I have to lose the stupid keychain...?” I cursed at myself and sighed deeply, exiting the treehouse to go back to my dorm room; it was only to try and get some actual sleep in a real bed, though.

_ I usually never get nightmares.... so why am I getting them now...? About Kai… about Kumo… I don’t understand… _ I thought to myself and then clenched my fists and shoved them in my jacket pockets.  _ It’s all that vampires fault that I’m getting these nightmares, if I hadn’t ever met him… I wouldn’t… I just…  _ I sniffled and wiped away my tears as I continued to walk. “No... I can’t blame him for what happens to me, but...” I sighed then, soft and broken and I looked up at the sky. “This just isn’t fair to me,” I whispered, “or the others.”


	9. Chapter 8

“Hey Ame, up for a little midnight hunting?” Looking up from where I was sitting, my pencil frozen on the paper where I was currently working on my homework, and I narrowed my eyes at Akatsuki when she spoke.

“What do you mean hunting...?” I questioned before yawning loudly, frowning after and I shook my head lightly. I haven’t had a good decent nap since that night with the dream about Kai, because everytime I try to sleep, that dream and those harsh images come tearing through the darkness that I once called peace.  _ I don’t even have dreams about Kumo anymore because of this stupid night terror… _

“There’s a small cave that’s near the dorm rooms and I heard some kids talking about a creepy sound around there, like the sound of howling echoing from the cave's walls.” The moment those words spilled from her mouth was the moment I instantly stood up, smacking my palms harshly against the table, my eyes wide.

“H-howling!?” Akatsuki fell to the ground, her own eyes wide as she stared at me in shock.

“U-uh... yeah, but what the hell was that for!?” She huffed out, scowling at me now as she stood up slowly, brushing off her clothes and straightening them out from the fall. I bit my lower lip, just a tiny bit guilty for my actions, but my thoughts were racing a mile a minute and all because of a certain little Spirit that I haven’t seen nose or tail of since that night I last encountered Kumo.

“I’m in.” I told her instead of offering an explanation for my actions, before grabbing my backpack and heading out of the library, just a tiny bit glad that the librarian hadn’t been there or I would’ve gotten into trouble for sure, and back to my dorm room. “This might be my chance... to really see if that dream is true or not.” I gulped, letting out a shaky breath closing my eyes tightly. “H-he’s probably just tied up in something in the cave, or he’s probably got himself caught in a trap meant for something else.”

I lowered my head fully as a million possible thoughts were pushed into my head. And before long, I rounded a corner and immediately crashed into somebody, causing me to fall flat onto my ass.

“H-hey! Watch where you’re going!” I growled lightly and rubbed my lower back, wincing a little before deciding then to look up at the culprit and I blinked, startled, when I saw a girl with light brown hair. She was rubbing her head from the impact and she then looked up at me with wide silver eyes.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you fall, but I’m going to be late!” she said all in a rush and I chuckled lightly, standing up and I offered my hand for her to take.

“Oh uh, it’s okay,” she took it and I helped her up, “sorry for snapping. Try to be more careful though, running in the halls.” I said to her and she nodded before dashing off into the direction of the main doors while I walked to the side doors.

_ What a weird girl... _ I thought with a light smile,  _ with such peculiar silver eyes. Heh, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was a... _ My eyes widened and I stopped in my tracks, looking back at the school. “A Gem carrier...” I breathed out and then grinned, a brilliant plan already making itself known inside my head. “Only one way to find out.” I practically purred, running as quickly as I could to the park entrance, no doubt where she’s headed to. After all, the park is the center of the entire town and it’s the quickest way to the business district. I had managed to get a quick peek at one of her papers, when I helped her up, and on it was a pretty well known logo for an office in town; no doubt where she was off to in such a hurry.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

It was ten minutes later when I reached the entrance to the park, less time than it would’ve taken had I walked and not taken that shortcut. I quickly climbed up the railing and sat on the top of the beautiful, white, vine covered arch, hidden in the shadows of a few of the trees towering over the arch.

I closed my eyes tightly with a very wide grin and then opened them again, only to see my target approaching the arch.  _ Wow, perfect timing… _ I thought, actually quite pleased with myself. Clearing my throat, I spoke, “Hey now, before you go do whatever you have to do, I have some very simple questions for you.” I called down from the arch, watching as the brunette stopped in her tracks, eyes wide as she looked around.

“H-huh!? Who said that!?” she questioned and I chuckled.

“You really should slow down when you’re in the hallways.” I said as a hint to who I was.

“Well don’t just hide yourself! I’m in a hurry so just come out and ask your damn questions so I can leave!” she snapped, and I could tell that she was getting very impatient very quick. I sighed softly in frustration, running a hand through my hair and ruffling it.

“Allow me one sentence and one question,” I hummed and she raised an eyebrow in question.

“Go on…”

“You may have something that peaks my interest, a Spirit Mark, but I won’t go into that yet.” I said and she narrowed her eyes, telling me to get on with it or go home. I just chuckled lightly and jumped from my spot on the arch, landing in front of her and effectively startling her.

I grinned at this and she huffed, “What the hell is a spirit mark?” she questioned and I shook my head, tilting it a little to the side, my grin almost identical to that of a Cheshire cat.

“Nah ah ah.” I said and she crossed her arms, the best she could with the folders in her hands, glaring at me. “Now my question,” I started, circling her with a smirk, my hands behind my head, “what do you say about a little midnight hunt?” I asked her and she gave me a startled look of confusion, allowing me to continue, though I didn’t really offer too much of an explanation. “Come to the cave by the dormitories; at midnight, you, me, and my friend, Akatsuki, will search the cave for the mystery that lurks inside it.” I said and then quickly added, “I won’t take ‘no’ as an answer.”

“Tch, fine.” she rolled her eyes and then turned away, continuing on her way through the park. I watched her leave, standing still for a few moments more until I grinned in triumph and turned in the opposite direction, heading back to the dorms.

“Heh, this might be fun after all,” I said to myself, completely forgetting about what I might find in the cave itself.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

Akatsuki’s eyes grew wide, “You what!?” and she yelled at me.

Currently, both of us were now standing ten feet away from the cave's entrance, waiting for the mysterious third member to join us. It was only around eleven thirty or so, so we still had a while to wait. It gave me enough time to explain to Akatsuki what happened, anyway. Though now, I wasn’t so sure if I wanted all this time alone with her. She looked about ready to tear my head off.

“I invited another person to explore with us,” I said in a very vague, kind of plain, tone and I grinned a little when she glared at me..

“But what if this howling noise turns out to be a Kiseichu?” she asked me, now looking incredibly unsure and a little worried, and I grinned a little wider at this.  _ The perfect question! _ I purred in thought.

“Relax Suki,” I said to her, trying to quell any objection she had, but she sighed in frustration, shaking her head

“But Am-!” She cut herself off, eyes just a tiny bit wide once more, watching as I tossed an Amethyst stone into the air, after digging it out of my pocket. I caught it, looking at her and she must’ve caught saw something in my eyes, as she frowned and closed her mouth, staring back at the gem.

“Catch.” I said as plainly as I could and threw the stone to her, which she caught it easily, her reflexes lightning quick, and I watched as she opened her hand to look at it.

“An Amethyst...” she whispered and looked at me, letting out a soft breath, “You mean she’s the Amethyst carrier?” she questioned and I turned away from her, looking back towards the park, shrugging a little.  _ Another question I don’t have an answer to… but I guess it is my fault, for bringing it up and showing her the gem in the first place. _

“I don’t know... but I have a sinking feeling that she’s the third member of the Jeweled Spirits.” I answered and leaned against the tree, crossing my arms and closing my eyes. “Let’s just hope she is so I don’t have to go to extreme lengths to wipe her memory of this place and meeting me.” I said with a deep sigh, shaking my head then.  _ I’m not exactly sure how I’d be able to do that, but… maybe Doreiku or Hai could come up with something? _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

Twenty minutes was how long, by my guess, that we waited for the girl to show and it wasn’t too much longer until she finally did. Turning our heads, when we heard a rustle in the bushes near the dorms, I tilted my own and smirked, pleased beyond measure.

“About time you showed up.” I stood up from where I was sitting and stared at the girl when she emerged from the bushes. Her hair was now up into a ponytail and she had on a light purple cap. She also had on a purple short sleeve shirt with blue fire surrounding the edges; along with white shorts.

“Sorry, I had stuff to do.” She crossed her arms and walked over to us, “So what’s this about?” It was only after she asked the question that a long, loud, and very dark howl came from the cave next to us. The girl’s eyes were wide with shock and fear, though Akatsuki was trying desperately not to show it. “What the hell was that!?” The brunette snapped, tense as a log from what I could see and her eyes were narrowed now.

“The reason we’re here...” I said in a soft voice.

Akatsuki sighed, shaking her head and she threw the gem to the other girl, “Catch this and tell us your name; depending on what happens, we may have some info for you.” The girl caught the stone, frowning, looking back and forth between Akatsuki and I before looking back at the stone and she sighed.

“It’s Odori, but you can call me Ori. Just… don’t ever call me Odo.” she huffed out, gripping the gem tightly, and she walked over towards the mouth of the cave. “Now what’s going on?”

“We’ll tell you that as soon as we find the cause of the noise.” I said with a smirk, “Alright, Odo?”

She turned toward me then and glared fiercely when she heard what I’d said, “I said don’t!” she growled out and I chuckled, holding my hands up as if they’d protect me from any danger.

“Alright, fine.” I hummed and stuck my hands in my jacket pockets before turning back towards the cave. “Let’s just go... I don’t want to waste any more time.” I whispered, just loud enough for them to hear me, and I gripped my stone tightly before walking towards the cave entrance. I barely even noticed that the girls followed, Akatsuki and Odori right at my tail.

The darkness of the cave engulfed us and my mind froze, thoughts of the nightmares filling head.  _ Kai... I really hope you aren’t involved in this. _ I thought weakly; I was worried and scared. And I was angry at whoever would do such a thing to Kai; to my best friend.

“So, this noise... what do you guys actually think it is?” Odori asked us and I sighed deeply, lowering my head and staring at the ground as we continued walking on, through the deep tunnel of the cave.

“I have an idea of what or who it might be, but you two would never believe me.” I murmured and I saw from the corner of my eye, Akatsuki sending me a worried look. I just shook my head at her and looked straight ahead, into the never ending darkness.

“Heh, I’ll believe anything, just as long as I see it.” Odori smirking at me and I frowned, stopping in my tracks and I looked down towards the black rocky ground, my now black hair covering my face.

“I think... that one of our enemies turned one of our own against us...” I said in a soft whisper.

“Enemies? What, are you guys being bullied or something?” Odori asked, scoffing a little, as if this was just some game we’d made up to get her to play with us. Well, I have some news for her: this isn’t some stupid fucking game. Kai is in there somewhere and he could be hurt, or worse, damn it! I looked up, barely holding back a sharp retort, but I didn’t bother doing the same for the fierce glare, my eyes narrowed and I could feel a low growl forcing its way out.

“You don’t mean....?” Alatsuki cut off her own sentence when I nodded, short and sharp and I turned my head down and away, clenching my fists inside my pockets..

“Yes. I think that Kumo may have taken my key chain. I think… I think he was the one that stole Kai from me.”

“Ame...” she started, walking towards me and placing a hand on my shoulder, “don’t worry, I’m sure he’s done nothing bad to him.” she murmured and I just shook my head.

“Akatsuki, Odori... This is something that is way bigger than you two.” That was the last thing that I said before walking again, leaving the sentence hanging in the air.  _ If they want out… well, that’s their choice. I won’t force them to come with me. _ A very harsh and loud howl rang through the dark tunnels and shook the ground we stood on, tearing apart the thoughts in my mind and my voice quivered as I spoke, barely above a whisper. “Kai…”

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

We walked for a good half an hour until finally reaching a large cave pocket. The room was dark and the air was thick, and along the walls were a few torches; six total that lit up the room with firelight. It was a bit darker than I had hoped, but it was enough for us to see. All but one part, that is: a small opening in the back of the room… a very dark opening that seemed to be large enough for any type of animal to rest in. And from within, we heard a very low growl coming from it.

I tensed up and narrowed my eyes slightly, walking forward.

_ It’s the same type of darkness in my dream… the same low growl from the cave… the same type of feeling I got… _ I froze for only a second, when my mind told me to go no further, but my body pushed onward. Curiosity and determination taking over my control, but that all soon came to an abrupt end when I heard a very familiar, very annoying laugh that came from all around us.

“I’m surprised that you, my little Ame, would have enough courage to come here. Even after hearing all those  _ dark  _ and  _ dangerous _ howls come from this very spot.” Kumo appeared in front of me, floating in mid air, mocking me with that damned smirk of his.

“What the hell!? Who the hell is that guy and how in the world is he.... Is he flying!?” Odori asked these questions, her voice echoing around the cave walls, but I ignored her and glared at Kumo, my full attention given to him.

“Give him back to me...” I said in a harsh tone, although I was worried, scared, curious, and most of all hurt because what he’d done.  _ This is taking it too far, Kumo… _ I thought with a small internal whimper.

“And what if I said no?” he asked in a plain, but still mocking tone.

“Then I swear to God, I will kill you.” I growled and grabbed out my stone. “Give Kai back to me you sick son of a bitch!!” I shouted at him, my control snapping when all he did was laugh.

“I can’t, he already belongs to me now.” he practically purred, smirking wide and feral, and I shook my head.

“No! That isn’t true!” I yelled out again. “Give Kai back to me or I swear-!”

“Oh it’s very true, my little kitten.” he assured me and I felt tears come to my eyes, gripping the gemstone tighter.

“N-no... he’s not, he can’t be!” I let a tear escape and looked at Kumo, my mind reeling and racing. I couldn’t tell what was real from fake at all. Everything seemed so fake... like this was all just an illusion. And illusion created by the very demon who has taken everything from me… “Kumo...” I started, but he once again cut me off.

“If you don’t believe me, then see for yourself.” he said as he floated to the ground and walked towards me, my head lowered to the ground and my eyes closed as I shook my head, not wanting to. He grabbed ahold of my chin and turned my head towards the cave entrance. “Well then, my precious Kiseichu, why don’t you come out and give the pretty little kitty the confirmation he needs.” he said as an order and as a reply, all four of us heard a soft growl and movement from inside the cave.

It was fifteen, maybe sixteen heartbeats later, I know because I’d counted every single one of mine, when a huge black and gold wolf walked out of the black shadows of the pocket before us. My eyes widened, tears flowing easily down my cheeks now as my dream flashed across my mind, as clear as day, for the twentieth time since this morning.

_ No... It isn’t possible... _ I thought and tried to be angry, tried to be anything but scared and hurt.  _ Kai can’t be his... he isn’t Kumo’s! This isn’t real.... _ “ _ This is not real!” _ I shouted both in my head and out loud and Kumo laughed. Behind me, I heard Akatsuki take a step forward, my name leaving her lips, while Odori seemed to be frozen stiff with shock and fear and uncertainty and doubt.

But yet... here he was, my best friend... Kai. He stood in front of us with a feral look in his golden eyes... eyes identical to my own... the same golden color now plagued with the touch of darkness.


	10. Chapter 9

Kai placed his front left paw in front of him and bared his fangs in a wild snarl, lashing out his tails; all ten moving, each in a different direction.

“Kai! Stop this!” I yelled at him and he barked fiercely at me, the sound echoing loudly around us, bouncing off the walls and I flinched while Kumo laughed.

“It’s no use my little kitten, he’s not under your control anymore.” Kumo said and I growled, glaring darkly at him.  _ He never was! He was his own damn creature you fucking asshole! _

“No!” I ripped my arm from Kumo’s grip and stumbled forward. “Kai! Stop this! Don’t do this!” I said in a quivering voice, scared, but I tried to calm down. “Kai... it’s me, Ame... Don’t you remember?” I asked the black wolf. He just howled in response and took a slight step forward, causing me to freeze in my spot.

“Stupid cat,” Kumo sighed and shook his head, pulling me back and away from Kai and I couldn’t even fight against his hold this time.

“Change... him... back... please, Kumo.” I begged him and he smirked.

“Sorry, little Ame, I can’t do that,” he hummed and I clenched my fist.

“Give him back!” I shouted at him, my own voice ringing loud and clear, even with the little break in it, but Kumo just shook his head once more.

“I said no, and that answer is still going to stand.”

“I won’t take no as an answer!” I snapped at him, my eyes narrowed, and my anger boiled up to a point of which I stopped caring and I raised my arm and threw my fist at him. It was no surprise to me that he’d easily caught my punch, catching my wrist in his own hand, but in my state, my eyes widened nonetheless.  _ No! Damn it! He can’t do this! Not again… _ I thought pathetically.

“Ame!” Akatsuki shouted and finally grabbed out her stone, glaring at Kumo. “Ruby!” She changed into her Gem form with an easy shout of her stone’s name and she held out her hand as she called for her Spirit Weapon. “Heart Bow!” Her bow in one hand, she held out the other hand and an arrow appeared, without her even having to call out for it and she set it up, pointing it directly at Kumo. “Let him go you son of a bitch.” she seethed, pissed and scared, but he just ignored her.

“Kumo... that is your name right?” Odori approached him, holding her hands up with a strange expression on her face, but again, he ignored the them.

“Odori, get away from him.” I sniffed and pulled my wrist from his grip, stepping back and lowering my head. “Just... you two go back to the dorms and get some sleep. Leave this to me.” I tried to get them to leave, I truly did, but Akatsuki scoffed.

“I am not leaving you with this bastard and this... this... thing!” she shouted at me and I growled at her, my head snapping up and I very nearly spat at her.

“Kai is not a thing! He is my best friend! He is my whole world to me!” I snapped at her and she held my gaze before lowering her weapon slightly.

“Fine...” she said, though she directed her glare back at Kumo.

I looked back at Kumo and for one millisecond, I thought that I had seen sadness in his eyes, but it soon disappeared and was replaced again by annoyance and frustration.

“Kumo... this is between you and me, leave my friends and Kai alone! Please!” I begged him again and he chuckled, low and dark.

“Between you and me, huh?” he purred and I tensed up, nodding anyway.

“Yes,” I said shakily and his eyes narrowed as he grinned, wide and sharp, his fangs glinting in the firelight and I let out a shaky breath, trying to calm my racing heart.

“Ah, so then I’ll make you a deal.” he said and I paused, lowering my head, even as I heard Akatsuki speak.

“Odori... take your gem and say its name.”

“Right, though I have no idea what’s going on...” Odori mumbled in reply. “But there’s a creepy guy who can fly and a giant wolf right in front of my eyes, so what the hell? Amethyst!” My gaze snapped back towards them when I heard this and my eyes widened when I saw the dark purple aura surrounding Odori, changing her from human to a Spirit.

Just as it had done with both Akatsuki and I, her entire appearance changed right before our eyes, even Kumo’s own.

Now, rather than the short sleeved shirt she’d been wearing, she wore a light purple, almost lavender colored, lacy, long sleeved shirt that came just above her belly button. On her wrists were two thin bracelets on each, one a purple color and the other silver. And on her feet, replacing the boots she was previously wearing were a pair of light purple combat boots that went up to her knees, each with silver, almost white designs on them. Her white shorts had been replaced by a pair of short lavender shorts that had a silver belt around the waist with silver chains on each side of her hips. Upon the belt was a silver latch in the front; an Amethyst gem was placed on the side of the belt that showed where her Spirit Mark had been, a purple sun-like design surrounding the gemstone.

Her hair had also changed, from light brown to a lilac color, having gotten longer and it was now tied up in pigtails that were each tied up with two, thin silver hairbands. Atop her head were two silver ears, poking from out of her hair and just behind her swayed a long silver tail with three lilac colored rings painted upon the fur.

“Now then... do what I did and call out your weapon.” Akatsuki spoke up, after a few moments, still glaring at Kumo.

The vampire only chuckled, smirking a little “It seems you’ve found another one of your little team members. Another, oh what was it called…” he mocked, “a Spirit?” Hearing his little snicker, I looked away from him, turning my head back towards my friends and I was about ready to get on my knees to beg them to leave.

“Odori... Akatsuki... please, just leave.” I tried once more, before Odori steadily held her hand out and closed her eyes before opening them.

“Wisteria Whip!” She called out and not even a moment after did a long purple whip appear in her hand. The weapon had silver designs along its surface and several small sharp thorns made themselves known, scratching against the floor of the cave when the whip hit the ground. It also had an Amethyst gem on the tip of the silver leather grip that Odori’s hand was clutched around tightly.

_ Well no chance of getting rid of them now... _ I thought and whimpered lightly as Kumo gripped both of my wrists, tight and I winced.

“W-what’s the deal?” I quickly made up my mind, though I hated the fact that I stuttered through the question and he grinned once again.

“I’ll leave your precious friends alone if you,” he paused and leaned in closer to my ear, “be mine.” My eyes widened when he finished the sentence and I shook my head fiercely without giving a verbal answer. “Well then,” he smirked, clearly having expected this from me, “Kai, why don’t you have a bit of fun with the darling little pups.” he ordered and in that instant, Kai sprang forward and attacked Akatsuki and Odori, letting out a sharp bark in answer.

“No! Kai!” I screamed out and tears escaped once more. “Don’t hurt him!” But Odori and Akatsuki got their weapons ready, almost as if they didn’t hear my plea. “No! Ori, Suki! Kai! Please…!” I tried again and Kumo sighed, shaking his head as he felt sympathy for me.  _ B-bastard… why…!? Why are you doing this!? _

“Your friends are only doing what they can to protect themselves, they don’t care what happens to your precious wolf.” he whispered in my ears and I shook my head again, nearly making myself dizzy and I would’ve stumbled and fallen over if kumo didn’t still have his hands around my wrists.

“No, Kumo… You’re wrong! They care about Kai just as much as I do, but...”

“But what?” he questioned and I whimpered.

“They just… don’t want anything bad to happen...” I whispered pathetically and I tried to struggle out of his grip, but I couldn’t. “Kumo, release Kai and leave my friends alone!” I snapped, loud and harsh and he only tightened the grip on my wrists.

“No,” he growled at me and I hissed back at him. “Ame, you don’t have a choice for this deal. You either take it or you can watch your friends die.”

“Ame! Say no, don’t take the deal. We can handle ourselves.” Akatsuki said in a frustrated tone.

“But-” I tried to argue but as soon as I did, an arrow was shot at me and it landed barely and inch from my right foot.  _ Oh fuck!  _ I squeaked, my fear spiking and I didn’t know what to do.

“Say no damn it!” Kumo smirked at this and he snapped his fingers.

“Kai, trap them now,” he ordered and my eyes widened, turning back towards my friends as quick as I could, only to watch as Kai opened his jaws wide, releasing a large bubble from his mouth. It caught Odori and Akatsuki by surprise and trapped them inside, the bubble sticking to the wall as if it were made of fast-acting glue.

“Let us out of here!” Odori slashed her whip at the bubble but it wouldn’t pop and Akatsuki tried shooting arrows at it, but nothing would pierce the substance. Kumo burst into laughter at this and he could barely even manage to snap his fingers. Kai turned his head towards Kumo when he heard it, though, and he padded over to the demon and sat down at his side.

“That bubble is made from a strong chemical mix that won’t break or pop. Nothing but the creatures who can make it can do so to it,” he said and I growled at him.

“Kumo! Let them go!” I seethed and he shook his head again, leaning forward and grabbing my chin, the smirk back on his face. My breath hitched when I realized just how close his face was to mine and I felt heat crawl to my cheeks, but I tried desperately to keep the blush down.  _ Now is so not the time to be thinking about the… the stupid kiss! _

“Not until you say yes to the deal,” his voice was barely above a whisper, but it was hard and to the point and I frowned, shaking my head in answer.  _ I can’t! I won’t… just please… let them go! _

“I will never say yes to you Kumo,” I hissed, trying to put forth a tough front, but he stepped back, letting go of me. He let out a little chuckle that had me wondering if I was doing the right thing or not.

He raised his hand, that damned smirk still on his face, “Then I guess you will have to fight him,” before it fell with his words, a light disappointed glare directed at me and he jumped back almost immediately, when my eyes widened, and he threw his hand out in a sharp, quick motion, acting as a signal of some sorts. After a few stuttering heartbeats, I knew exactly what it was suppose to be for, because in that instant, Kai sprang forward with his claws out and his narrowed gaze directed right at me.

“No!” I shouted, my voice breaking only slightly, and I jumped out of the way, barely managing to land back on my feet instead of flat on the ground. “I won’t fight him!”

“Say yes.”

“No!”

“Then you will fight your beloved little wolf,” he said in a tone I couldn’t decipher and then he disappeared, leaving me alone with Kai. I barely even noticed that the bubble that held my friends was gone, as well.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Odori groaned and leaned against the wall of the bubble, her arms crossed as she shook her head, her ears twitching and her tail swishing gently from side to side. “This is really starting to freak me out,” she muttered and sighed in frustration. _

_ “I’m sorry.” Akatsuki whispered, her own head lowered along with her ears, her tail as still as her form. Odori raised an eyebrow at her, frowning in confusion. _

_ “What?” _

_ “I said I’m sorry.” she sighed. “It’s my fault that this happened; it was because of me that we were in that cave in the first place. It’s my fault that we got trapped, because I was so blinded by anger, and it’s also my fault that Ame is probably dead right now.” Akatsuki gritted out, clenching her fists tightly and Odori shook her head, walking to Akatsuki. _

_ “Nah, I chose to come here on my own will. Though I guess I had little to no choice in the matter; Ame did track me down to the park, after all, just to tell me to meet you guys near that cave entrance.” Letting out a wry chuckle, she didn’t notice Akatsuki’s frown. _

_ “This isn’t funny!” She barked out, growling low in her throat and Odori frowned then, a little guilty. “We could be in danger!” She almost very nearly cut off when the two heard a chuckle, both turning their heads to see Kumo and two other demons, behind him. _

_ “Relax little fox, you aren’t in any danger.” The white haired demon, the one leaning with his shoulder against a pillar and his arms crossed, grinned sharply at them. “Our orders are not to mess with you two; we’re only to get that cat.” Odori narrowed her eyes at him, growling a little at this as she turned fully to them, her own arms crossed once more. _

_ “What’s so special about Ame?” _

_ “That, my dear little wolf, is very simple,” Kumo said and closed his eyes, turning his head away. “My brother, Ite, has discovered that he has something very important we need to help revive our old home.” he answered, his voice soft and bitter and both girls looked at the demons, confused beyond all measure. Odori glanced at Akatsuki, just a bit relieved to know she wasn’t the only one curious, as well. _

_ The blonde was the one that answered their confusion, “Kuzui...” he said, nodding his head, “It’s an extremely rare component that we need to restore our home. The Onyx is the only kind of stone that has that, and Ame has more Kuzui in him than the largest Onyx stone uncovered could ever possess.” The explanation seemed to quell some of their confusion, but when Kumo spoke, Akatsuki’s curiosity was quickly replaced by anger. _

_ “My only reason for Ame being my target is simply because I want him for my own.” _

_ Akatsuki growled dangerously, her fangs baring, glinting in the light of the room. “Are you a dumbass or something!?” she snapped at him, her hands against the bubble’s surface, her eyes narrowing as she continued, “Don’t you see that what you’re doing to Ame is hurting him?! You won’t ever get him by doing this,” she spat, “especially by kidnapping his friends, stealing Kai, and using said wolf against the cat! All you’re doing is making him hate you even more than he already does!” _

_ “That is true.” Odori sighed, and though she didn’t have much of a clue what was going on, she could take a guess. “I don’t know much about anything since I’m a bit new to this, but I do know that in order to gain someone as your own, you have to capture their heart. To do that, you need to earn that person's trust, earn their respect and loyalty and maybe you’ll eventually earn their love.” She let a small smile play at her lips until it was replaced by a frown and she glared lightly at the vampire. “But what you’re doing, is what I would call the exact opposite.” _

_ Kumo growled back at the two and clenched his fists, taking a single step forward, ready to summon his swords and get rid of them himself. “Enough! What do you two stupid humans know about this!? Nothing!” he seethed, throwing out his arm, “I’ve done my research and neither of you know anything about this. You will not tell me how to do this!” Taking a step back, he turned away and directed his attention to his brothers, “Don’t let them out,” before disappearing right before their eyes. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

Panting heavily, I gripped Kai’s paw tightly, trying to remove it from atop my chest. “K-kai... p-please... I... I don’t want to... I… I won’t fight you...” I was now fully in tears, some of them dropping to the cave floor beneath me, but I tried to gather as much of my composure as possible. It wasn’t working, even now, in this situation; I couldn’t.

“You’re wasting your time, Ame.” I heard a deep sigh and the snap of fingers, before Kai was suddenly backing off of me and I sat up, turning my head to look at Kumo, who stood only a few feet behind me, looking down at me with an unidentifiable expression. “Look, I’ll give you three days and three nights to decide. And when the time comes, you  _ will  _ give me your answer.”

“The answer is still no!” I seethed, standing up, instinctively reaching for my gem, but then I realized that if I use it, I’ll probably have to turn my blade on Kai, and I can’t, I  _ won’t _ do that.

“Then your friends die,” he snapped with a harsh tone that made me flinch back and I let out a shuddered breath. “On the third night,” he added with a lighter tone, “I  _ will _ expect a good answer from you, or you  _ will _ regret it.”

“No!” The tears haven’t stopped flowing, I’m embarrassed to realize, but at the moment, I couldn’t bring myself to care. “Kumo please... don’t hurt them... Just... please...!”

“Three days, my kit.” he sighed and then disappeared with another snap of his fingers, only a mere second later did I see a bright light forming around Kai and I turned my attention towards him, my eyes wide. It was only a few seconds later that a normal black wolf pup, with only one tail and the same golden marks, fell to the ground, out cold.

“Kai!” I wasted no time in running over to him, skidding on the ground and falling to my knees beside him, picking him up and holding him close. “Oh my God, you’re alright!” I choked out, hugging him tightly and I shook my head when he gave no answer. “I promise, Kai... I will never lose you again.” I whispered and a small gold aura surrounded him; moments later, the keychain was back into my hands and I let out a soft sigh of relief. “Get some rest, little wolf... you’ve earned it.”

Putting the keychain into my pocket, where it rested safely with my gemstone, I stood up slowly and shakily and I lowered my head; my hair was covering my eyes and my hands were clenched into tight fists. I paid no mind as blood dripped to the ground beneath my feet and tried to focus on controlling myself and my emotions; the anger and pain that I felt and the bitter ache inside my chest.

“D-damn it...” I cursed at myself, my voice quivering and broken. “Kumo... why are you doing this to me....?” I closed my eyes tightly and fell to my knees, nearly choking on heavy sobs. “W-what did I do... t-to deserve this...? Tell me that! Damn it! Tell me what I did deserve this!” I shouted out into the empty cave, my voice echoing around me and I flinched, unable to stand the echo.

I just sat there, for minutes on end, staring at the ground and at my hands, feeling as if there was just a big empty hole in my chest.

After what felt like an eternity, I tried standing up again, feeling weak. I turned away, towards the exit, and began walking out of the cave, becoming swallowed once more by the never ending darkness.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

A half an hour later, I found myself staring outside the cave, looking up at the sky, watching the moon as it shone high in the sky above me. Kumo’s words rang inside my head and I sniffed, raising a hand to finally wipe away at the tears still crawling down my cheeks.  _ But... in three days... I will change back into a cat...  _ I thought, upset and pained.  _ What can I do to like that? What will I be able to do, without having it end up like last time...? What’s going to happen to me if I say yes... or even no for that fact? And more importantly, how will this affect Odori and Akatsuki if I choose either of those answers? _

The thing is, I may have been able to get away from the darkness of the cave, but the darkness in my mind stayed, nearly swallowing me whole. Even still, those four words stuck, quelling any other thought I had in my head.

_ ‘Three days, my kit.’ _


	11. Chapter 10

I sat against the balcony doors on the second floor of the café, staring out into the night sky. Kai was curled up beside my lap, while I petted the soft fur on his neck, occasionally brushing my fingers through the thick fur. Surprisingly, Kai had grown bigger in the two and a half months that I’ve had him; ever since that first day of school and the first day of life with the Jeweled Spirits. I try not to think of that day though, when everything in my life had changed drastically.

Everything has been so new to me: changing from a human to a Spirit; becoming a cat every full moon; fighting Kiseichu all around; avoiding a perverted, obsessed, bastard of a vampire; meeting new Spirits and trying to solve new mysteries every week with them.

I sighed and closed my eyes, shaking my head as my newest mystery and nightmare played over and over again behind my eyes.  _ And let’s not forget trying to save my friends from the crazy vampire that’s trying to get me to be his.  _ I thought bitterly.

“I am not that stupid vampire’s ‘kitten’,” I growled out, causing Kai to lift his head up from my lap.

_ “Is something the matter, Ame?” _ he questioned and I sighed, shaking my head.

That reminds me, just this morning I’d received a device from Doreiku: a necklace that I now wear that allows me to talk with any animal involved in the spirits. Animals like wolves, cats, and foxes; since those are the animals in the spirits... so far, anyway.

“Nah, I’m just thinking… is all.”

_ “Are you thinking about that demon?” _

I huffed out a heavy breath of annoyance, narrowing my eyes as I looked away from Kai. “Why would I ever be thinking about that… idiot...?” I questioned, wincing a little at the pathetic insult I tagged onto the end, and he chuckled, though really it sounded more like a giggle to me. He put a paw on my hand, the one that wasn’t currently still petting him, and he looked at me with those eyes that looked like they were staring right into my soul. If I’m completely and totally honest, it kinda freaked me out a bit.

_ “Come on Ame, I’m an animal. I know when something goes on. Despite you thinking that you hate him, I know you have feelings for him,” _ he stated and my hand stilled, clenching tightly to his fur as I growled at him, glaring back at him now.

“Whatever! He turned you into a monster and he kidnapped my friends... and he’s... he’s a perverted bastard!” I snapped only to earn a sympathetic look from the young wolf, as he sighed and shook his head a little.

_ “Yes,” _ he murmured softly, sitting up before moving around so he was behind my back, using himself as a makeshift pillow,  _ “I know…” _ I sighed softly before laying down, pillowing my head against him. He shifted a little and moved his long fluffy tail around my waist, creating something like a blanket around me.  _ “Goodnight Ame.” _ I couldn’t help the small smile then as I reached a hand back and gave him a little scratch behind his ear before moving the hand back to his tail.

It was silent for a few moments before I finally replied back, “‘Night… Kai.”

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

I felt fur brushing up against my face and I scrunched up my nose, stirring from my sleep before officially sneezing myself awake. “Kai...” I groaned, blinking my eyes open, and I stared blearily at the wolf, “you know not to wake me up like that. I’ve got a headache now…” I complained and Kai only chuckled, shaking his head lightly.

_ “Sorry, Ame, but you have duty in the café.” _ he said and I sighed.

“Fine, fine... Do you have my outfit?” I mumbled, yawning as I sat up, stretching out and wincing when I did. “Ow…” He took a moment to look at me in concern before nodding and he grabbed some clothes from behind the door and handed them to me. “Thanks.”

I stood up and walked to the bathroom, changing into the uniform before walking down to the café itself, seeing several people at tables.  _ I guess Hai already opened up the café for the day without me… _ I groaned and lowered my head, shaking it after a few moments of cursing at the brunette.

“This is going to suck, working alone,” I mumbled and Kai whined a little, nudging his head against my leg, standing beside me.

_ “Don’t worry Ame, you’ll have your friends back in two days.” _

“Well yeah, if I say yes to him.” I sighed softly and Kai let out a small laugh. Again though, it sounded much more like a giggle than a freaking laugh.

_ “Did the vampire propose to you?” _ I smacked him upside the head, when he asked this, wiping the smirk from his muzzle and he whined. _ “Ow!” _

“Shut up Kai,” I growled at him and he managed another laugh. I rolled my eyes, ignoring him then and finally went to work, sighing deeply at my thoughts and what Kai said.  _ Stupid wolf, of course he didn’t propose to me...  _ I puffed out another heavy sigh, shaking my head.  _ I would never say yes to that question, even if my friends were held captive. _

“Hey miss,” I heard a bunch of boys snicker and laugh, and I turned my head, narrowing my eyes at them,  _ Damn them… they ought to stick it up their asses and leave me the fuck alone. I’m not a girl, they know this; we  _ do _ have some of the same classes together, after all… _ “my friends and I would like your services for a second.” I took a moment, composing myself and controlling the annoyance and anger I felt before walking over to the table with a strained little smile on my face.

“Yes?”

“What do you say you and I ditch this place and go to my house?” one of the guys asked me and I raised an eyebrow, crossing my arms as I looked him over. The teen had blonde hair and green eyes; a cutie in my own, but the answer is an obvious no.  _ Sorry, but you’re just not my type… _ I thought, my eyes narrowed now as my smile disappeared from my lips.

“Bite me.” I said, sharp and to the point, and I turned to walk away but before I could even take a step, the guy grabbed my wrist.

“What? Is there someone else already?” the guy asked in a harsh tone, his own eyes narrowed and I turned around to say no, but froze for just a second, my breath hitching and my heart beating a mile a minute.

“I...” I paused and then shook my head and ripped my arm from his grasp, “Yes.” I said and then walked away from the table, cursing at myself.  _ Why the fuck did I say that...? It could’ve been a straight up ‘no’, but I just had to say yes... _ I sighed again, running a hand over my face, and then I went back to work.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

I groaned, running my hands through my hair before collapsing back onto the ground, the grass beneath me cold, but soft and a semi-welcome bed compared to sleeping on the concrete of the balcony. I was tired, exhausted, and frustrated. I didn’t know what to do… I was starting to think there was nothing I could do.

I was so lost in my thoughts, though, that I didn’t even realize Kai had followed me down to the lake.  _ “So, why’d you answer his question with a yes?” _

“I honestly don’t know what I was thinking at the time...” I murmured, shaking my head and looking up at the wolf when he saw down beside me, looking at me with a strange smile.

_ “Or who you were thinking of when you said it, yes?” _

“Enough with that already Kai. I don’t like him, end of story.” I snapped, sitting upright so I could glare at him properly. The effect lessened when the person that was pissing me off was currently taller at the moment, but now that I was sitting up, we were about face to face, or… face to muzzle, anyway.

“ _ Well you have one more day to decide that. You have to say yes Ame, or you know what will happen.” _

I groaned when he said this, his tone mysterious, and that only added to the already massive ball of confusing emotions bubbling inside of me. “Yeah but what happens if I do say yes? Huh!? I’ll have been sold to a fucking demon... a vampire no less who just… who only wants…” I trailed off with a soft sigh and lowered my head.

_ “A vampire taming a panther... I’ve never heard of such a thing before.” _ I looked at him, when he mentioned this, my eyes filled with tears ready to spill. I’ve been doing that a lot lately; crying… I mean. He only smiled sadly when he saw this and made a small comforting noise in the back of his throat.

“What do I do Kai...? I want to help my friends so bad... but I don’t want to belong to that vampire.”

_ “Then the only thing you can do is fight, and if you fail...” _ he trailed off and I lowered my head once more, closing my eyes tightly.  _ “What would they want you to do?” _

My eyes opened slightly to that question and I paused, blinking, startled by the question.  _ What would they want me to do…? Akatsuki, Odori… they… they would never want to see me like this, so close to giving Kumo what he wanted. So close to… to giving in.  _ I smiled softly then, and that smile soon turned out into a full out grin when I looked up, eyes wide and bright. “They wouldn’t want me to give in like this. They would want me to fight! To stand up to him!” I said excitedly and Kai chuckled, but after a few moments I sighed, my spirits and hope diminishing, “But… oh fuck, I forgot…” I muttered, deflating, “I can’t fight him as a cat... I’ve already tried once, and that led me to getting bit by that bastard...”

_ “Even so, you have to try, for Akatsuki and Odori.” _ Kai said, nuzzling against my shoulder and then he stood up,  _ “I have to go help clean up at the café, I’ll see you again when I’m done.” _ With a little nod to me, he left back towards the café, and I couldn’t help the little smile that played at my lips.

“Thank you... Kai.” I said to myself and I stood up then, reaching into my jacket pocket for my gemstone. “Onyx.” I murmured under my breath and then changed, holding out my now gloved hands, once the aura disappeared, and I watched as the sword materialized once more.

I closed my eyes for a single moment, taking in and letting out a small breath, before holding my sword up to the moon, its light glinting off the blades smooth, metal surface. I nodded sharply and gripped the blade tighter, swinging it around a few times, my eyes narrowed before they closed and opened once more, staring at my Spirit Weapon.

“Thanks Kai, but I think I already know what I’m going to do tomorrow night.” I murmured and watched as my blade disappeared once more. “Kumo will pay for what he’s done, I promise you that…” I added, my voice barely above a faint whisper.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Kumo yawned as he sat against the pillar, bored. “Hn, I wish I hadn’t said three days.” he mumbled, shaking his head lightly at the thought, “I’m getting bored just sitting around here, with nothing to do.” _

_ “You can’t expect Ame to say yes. Because he won’t, not to the likes of you.” Odori said, for what felt like the millionth time since they’d gotten there, and Akatsuki nodded her head a little in agreement. The fox, now no longer in her Spirit form was sitting on the floor of the bubble, her head resting back against the walls of it; Odori, still in her Gem form, though her whip was gone, leaned against the bubble, standing up, her tail flicking out from side to side and her ears laid back against her head. _

_ “Not to a pathetic demon that’s only really out to get into the little cats pants.” Akatsuki snickered, the heavy mood having gone from her system only a few hours ago, but Odori flicked her for saying so. “Ow!” she whined and rubbed her head, glaring pathetically at the wolf. _

_ Kumo stood up abruptly and growled at them, glaring darkly at the fox. “Me wanting the little kitten has nothing to do with that!” _

_ Odori crossed her arms though, unimpressed. “Oh please. A demon much like yourself would do anything for an easy looking target such as Ame, especially just for ‘pleasure’.” _

_ Kumo clenched his fists and looked away, closing his eyes tightly, gritting his teeth together. “Shut up, it isn’t like that!” _

_ Akatsuki laughed, the sound loud and harsh. “Whatever! We can see right through your little scheme! All you want is-” _

_ “Akatsuki, don’t.” Odori cut her off with a soft sigh and she turned back towards Kumo, her eyes sad and all-knowing.  _ He’s in way over his head… and he doesn’t even see the fault in what he’s doing. _ “Kumo, you have to listen to us…” she said and then shook her head, correcting herself, “to me,” and Akatsuki made a small wounded noise, huffing as she frowned, turning her head away to hide her childish pout. “Ame is so much more than you’re giving him credit for; he’s brave and kind, and loyal and gentle and if you would just open your eyes and see this… you’ll know that going after him for such a useless purpose like this is pointless on so many levels.” _

_ “Shut up, damn wolf. You don’t get it,” he seethed, glaring at her once more, just as fiercely as before, “getting Ame to be mine has nothing to do with what you are saying! Got that!?” _

_ “Then,” she began, slow and unsure, “if you really want him to like, or even love you, as you say you do... please reconsider what you’re doing and try to take his feelings into hand. Think about how this will affect how he feels... and even how this will affect how he thinks of you.” she spoke softly, almost in a mother-like tone, and Kumo froze. “He already doesn’t like you… so, try a little and finally give him a reason to change his mind.” _

_ He let out a harsh, unsteady breath and closed his eyes, lowering his head and he turned away sharply. “Whatever.” _

_ Odori only frowned, watching as he walked away, disappearing almost as if he’d never been there in the first place. “Way to go…” Akatsuki grumbled, looking back up at Odori, “just what the hell was that all about, anyway?” _

_ It was quiet, for several moments, on the wolf’s end, until finally, she spoke, “Just a feeling…” _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

I was… bored. Simple as that, really; lying with my eyes closed, upon the soft green grass beside the lake, still in my Spirit form. “I can’t sleep...” I mumbled to myself, my ears twitching a few times, and I was tired as they come, but too exhausted to even properly rest.  _ Damn it… _ Sitting up, I rubbed at my face, running a single hand through my hair before opening my eyes and I looked up, glancing up at the moon.

It was for several minutes on end that I sat in silence, and truth be told, I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard someone speak behind me. I can most definitely tell you that I was not expecting company tonight, especially since Kai and the others had already gone off to bed.

“Hey little kitten.” The words were familiar, but the voice… wasn’t and I tried and tried to figure out who’d spoken, but I couldn’t, not for the life of me, figure out who. Finally chancing it, I turned my head to the side, twisting around a little, for a moment, all I could do was stare.

My breath hitched, my ears twitched, my tail quivered beside me, and I gripped a patch of grass with my hands when I saw the vampire. He was just standing there with a strange expression, looking at me with a sad, ghost of a smile. It… unnerved me, but strangely enough, I wasn’t scared. “Wha...” I let out a shaky breath and closed my eyes tightly, shaking my head, before opening them again, looking up at Kumo with a small, confused frown. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to cancel the deal.” he said, quick and simple and my eyes widened as I bolted upright, nearly stumbling on my feet when I did.  _ No! I don’t… he can’t… I don’t understand… _

“W-what do you mean ‘cancel the deal’!?” I shouted, ears laid back against my head, tense as a log and he looked up at me, his blood red eyes clouded with so many emotions and I couldn’t even figure out a single one.

“You can have your friends back,” I couldn’t help the smile that lit up my face when I heard this, even though I was just a tiny bit suspicious.  _ He can’t be serious right now, can he!? I can really get Odori and Akatsuki back? But what about… okay, no, not going there… _ I shook my head to rid my thoughts and glanced back up at him, taking a small step forward, unsure, my tail flicking lightly back and forth, quivering with my emotions.

“R-really?” I asked, hesitant, but he nodded his head and my ears perked up, twitching as I grinned. And for a single moment, I thought for once, there were no strings attached-

“On one condition.”

-until he spoke again, his voice just as soft as before, but with a strange, unknown underlying tone to it.

“…what...?”

“One kiss,” he answered, holding up a single finger and I tilted my head in confusion.

“A... a k-kiss?” I asked, my ears lowering just a bit and I felt my tail wrap itself around my left leg.

“One  _ last _ kiss.” I frowned, when he confirmed what he’d said, but it disappeared when I looked down, hiding everything I felt just then as I tried to think with a clear head.

_ I don’t understand… _ I thought with a weak voice even in my head,  _ what does he mean by that…? _ “I-If I…” I started, stuttering a little and tried clearing my throat, glancing back up at Kumo, “if I get my friends back... then... I....” I took a deep breath, letting it out as I cautiously took a few steps, towards him. I suddenly felt ten times as nervous and as scared as I did when I first met the demon and for once in my life, I was truly, so very lost.

I watched him, like a hawk, careful of any sudden moves and alert to everything around me, though my ears were fully against my head; my tail was flicking back and forth though, no longer curled around my leg. He looked… confused and curious, the only two emotions that I could pick out clearly among the rest, but the truth is… I am too. It was as if my body was no longer mine to control, and eventually, I was stopping, right in front of him.

Looking up at the vampire and doing my best to hold eye contact, I let out another shaky breath, clenching my fists before relaxing them, trying my hardest not to give away what I was feeling. I’m starting to think, though, that I’ve long since failed at doing that, around him. His red eyes were staring into my own golden ones as if searching for something, anything, but I wasn’t too sure he could find anything worth looking for in the jumbled mess that were my emotions; though maybe, if he looked hard enough, I’m sure he’d see a slight glimpse of fear and uncertainty.

I had actually stopped breathing, wound up as tight as a clock, and I was almost certain that I would faint, if not for the sudden rush of determination.  _ I can’t believe I’m going to do this _ , I thought, just only for a moment, before wiping everything from my mind and I closed my eyes tightly. Standing up on my toes, I finally placed my lips on his own, my ears upright now, twitching a few times and for several moments, I didn’t know what to do.

Frozen in place, as I was, I only just barely felt as Kumo snapped from his shock and I shivered, when he smirked and decided to kiss back. He raised his hands, placing one, gently on the bandages around my neck, and the other on my cheek, brushing his thumb across my skin. I didn’t know what to do or even what to think, but I did know, that without a doubt… I… I didn’t want it to stop.

But, I had to, eventually, when the need to breathe became prominent. Pulling away, my lips only inches away from Kumo’s, I could feel the heat rush to my cheeks, and I was hyper-aware of the touch of his hands on me. Regaining what breath had been stolen from me, I stared once more into Kumo’s eyes before not being able to take it anymore and I lowered my head, closing my eyes once again.  _ What have I just done…? _

I felt my hair covering my face, as I took a couple steps away from him when he tried getting me to look back at him. I heard him sigh and he finally took his hands away, immediately making me choke on a whimper from the loss of the warmth against my skin and my tail flicked back and forth, quick and harsh.  _ Why is my heart beating so fast…? _

“As promised,” he cleared his throat, “you can have your friends back.” Even as he said this, I couldn’t bring myself to be happy anymore, feeling tears come to my eyes.  _ Why do I feel… like I just watched someone kill my favorite puppy…? _

“K-Kumo...” I spoke after a few heartbeats of silence, “what did you mean... by...” I trailed off, opening my eyes and I looked up at him, through the strands of my hair. I watched him turn back towards me, his eyes narrowed in confusion, but that soon disappeared and was replaced by uncertainty and what looked like sadness, something that only had my chest feeling even tighter than before.  _ Don’t look at me like that… don’t make me feel like… like  _ I _ was the one who killed that puppy… _

“I meant exactly that... I won’t bother you anymore after this.” he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper and turned away with his back towards me and he held his hand up, ready to snap his fingers at any given moment. “You won’t have to worry about me anymore; no more kisses, no more comments, no more… me.” he cleared his throat again, his voice becoming a bit stronger, a bit more… empty as he added, “When I leave, tonight, you won’t ever see me again.”

“Oh...” I whispered, my voice breaking and I finally looked down and away, my ears lowering once more, unable to take it when I heard Kumo snap his fingers. I barely managed to glance up just in time to see the bubble that held my friends burst, but I could only focus on Kumo as he walked away. And I could only watch, my fists clenched and my chest tight with emotion, as he disappeared into thin air.

“Ame!” Akatsuki’s voice broke me from my trance and I snapped my gaze over to them when she stood up, taking a moment to regain her balance before running over to me, throwing her arms around me in a tight hug. “You’re okay!” She was nearly vibrating with happiness, a wide smile on her face and I couldn’t help the smile, if only just a tiny one, that played at my lips.  _ My friends… they’re okay… _

“Yeah... I’m okay.” I barely said in a whisper as Odori walked over to me, and I watched as she changed back to what she normally looked like, only then making me remember that I was in my own Spirit form.

“Are you alright?” The question had me turning my gaze to her and I frowned, “You look like you’re about to cry.” she added in a frown and I glanced away, my gaze traveling back to where Kumo had just been standing only a minute earlier.

Allowing myself to change back to normal, my ears and tail disappearing, I spoke, “I’m fine, I just… need some rest. Worrying over my friends does me no good in my need to rest.” I said and smiled softly, changing back to my normal human form.

“Well, okay,” Akatsuki said and her smile grew a little when she pulled back from the hug. “Let’s go get Kai and then lets all head back to the dorms. We all need our rest!”

Odori chuckled when Akatsuki said this and nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, sleeping in a bubble isn’t very comfortable, you know?” she smirked and Akatsuki and I laughed, though mine was barely even heard above Akatsuki’s own laughter. You couldn’t really blame me though, for not having my heart so much into the conversation… it didn’t even feel like my heart was there, anymore. It felt like someone had ripped it out and taken it, right from under my nose; whether it’s broken or whole, I don’t know.

“No kidding!” Grabbing my hand and pulling me back towards the café, we were off to go get Kai before heading back to the dorms, and Odori followed right behind us. “Oh and Odori, tomorrow you officially start work at the café!” she added with a smirk, snickering a little when Odori groaned.

“Oh goody,” she mumbled and I actually did manage to laugh this time.

“It’s actually kinda fun, once you get used to it.” I murmured and she shrugged with a small nod and a hint of a smile.

“Fine with me.”

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ “Did he really kiss you?” _ Kai asked with a small yawn, settling down beside me on the bed. I sat up against the wall, sighing softly, with my pillow behind my back.

“Well sort of...” I mumbled, looking away when he looked up at me, clearly confused. I only barely saw, from the corner of my eyes, his own widening and he grinned, sharp and wide.

_ “You don’t mean to say _ you _ were the one who kissed him, do you!?” _ he questioned and I ducked my head in embarrassment, my face heating up as I remembered the kiss.  _ I still can’t believe that I… that I was the one who… who… Fuck, I am one big mess, aren’t I? _

“Well um-” I tried to explain what had happened, but he cut me off as quick as I started.

_ “Heh, you are so adorable when you’re embarrassed.” _ he cooed with a smirk and I shot a mild glare at him, my hands fisting the blanket wrapped around me.

“Knock it off Kai...” I hissed and he only chuckled, shaking his head.

_ “So, did you like it? I mean you had to have liked it, because after all, you were the one who started the little kiss.” _

I sighed, groaning a little as I ran a hand over my face and through my hair, ruffling it, “Kai, just… drop the subject. I don’t care about the kiss anymore. I’m sure I won’t even remember it in a few days anyway, so...” I trailed off when Kai frowned at me. “What?” I asked, nervous because of the way he was staring at me.

_ “Ame... you need to give up the act, you’ll only hurt yourself that way.” _ I only turned away once more, clenching my fists tighter and I let out a harsh breath through my nose.

“K-kai... enough. He said that was the last kiss, so I won’t have to deal with him ever again. We are enemies and nothing more. He doesn’t like me and I definitely don’t like him.” I growled out, repeating this over and over in my head until I was sure that even I started to believe it. Kai let out a small little noise that tore through me a straight to my heart, shaking his head and he rested it atop his paws, on the bed.

_ “Alright…” _ he whispered,  _ “Ame, I believe you then. Just please... don’t do anything that will eventually hurt you.”  _ he glanced back up at me, pleading one last time, before closing his eyes and he eventually fell asleep.

Silence met my ears and for minutes on end, I was left in the dark with my thoughts. Shaking my head sharply, I let out a choked noise, tears coming to my eyes before I closed them tightly, trying to get rid of them, to pretend they don’t exist and that I was  _ fine _ . Because I am… I don’t care… not about that kiss and not about… about Kumo…  _ I watched him walk away… and the look in his eyes before… he just… why…? Why do I care… even now…? He hurt me… and he hurt my friends… shouldn’t that be enough…?  _ “This isn’t fair...” I finally whispered, not even bothering to wipe the tears away.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ “Are you really giving him up Kumo?” Ite questioned, looking at his brother in concern when Kumo sighed, resting his head against the pillar, his eyes closed. _

_ “What’s it to you?” Kumo mumbled in a harsh, but saddened tone. _

_ “Because we care what happens with our brother, despite what you think.” Rekkusu answered and Kumo scoffed, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, ‘sure you do…’ “Come on Kumo... we know you like the kid, so why’d you give up on him?” The ghost tried again and almost flinched back when Kumo stood up, glaring at him. _

_ “Enough about it already! What I do is none of your fucking business, and besides,” he deflated then, shrugging his shoulders, “he doesn’t like me back so why should I continue?” _

_ “But, you said he was the one that kissed you... that means something, doesn’t it?” Taiyo, a red haired demon asked, speaking up for the first time since entering the room and Kumo lowered his head, “That maybe he does like you, but doesn’t want to admit it?” _

_ “He doesn’t like me, Tai, end of story.” Kumo said in plain tone and Ite sighed, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair. He didn’t even have to look to know that the other two had left when he approached Kumo and he placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. _

_ “Kumo, listen to me. I know he likes you-” _

_ Kumo jerked away from his brother’s touch and he growled at the blonde, glaring at him, and Ite felt torn when he saw remnants of tears forming in the eyes of his beloved younger brother. “No, Ite, he doesn’t!” Kumo snapped and Ite only frowned deeper.  _ What a stubborn fool he’s always been… _ he thought with a soft sigh and he shook his head once more, turning away from the vampire. _

_ “Fine Kumo, but at least hear this, if not anything else I say,” he said, his voice stern and deep and filled with so much concern, “just don’t do anything that will eventually hurt you in the end.” _

_ Kumo sighed deeply and leaned back against the pillar, closing his eyes a bit, smiling as he did so. “Maybe he really does like me back...?” he murmured to himself, touching his hand to his lips and then he smirked.  _ Why else would he be the one to initiate the kiss? And to willingly kiss me, of all demons. I didn’t ever know he’d ever be so brave, to do that without being forced or prompted. _ “Not with me, not with ‘Kumo, the perverted, hot-headed, bastard of a vampire.’” he chuckled, shaking his head when he recalled several of the insults Ame had thrown at him over the last few months and suddenly hope flared inside him,  _ Maybe that truly wasn’t the last kiss, _ he thought, _ but for now, I’ll wait for you to make the first move… my darling little Ame… _ before he disappeared. _


	12. Chapter 11

_ “Kumo... where are you?!” I shouted out into the black nothingness. My mind was so screwed up in that moment, I had no idea if I was even in a dream or not... “Kumo!” I shouted out again, feeling tears sting in my eyes. I fell to my knees and lowered my head, closing my eyes tightly as I felt tears pour down my pale colored cheeks. “Kumo...” I choked out, “why did you leave me...?” My voice was quiet, broken, and pained and I didn’t even care, at that point. _

_ “Hey, little kitten...” I heard the familiar soft and gentle voice I’ve only heard once before and I lifted my head, eyes wide when I saw Kumo kneeling in front of me. He reached his hand out to touch my cheek and I couldn’t help the smile that lit up my face, happy he was here. _

_ “K-Kumo... is that really.... Are you really here....?” I asked him, my eyes showing a glint of hope, love, and most of all... sadness. I leaned into his touch and he let a smirk play at his lips as he chuckled. _

_ “Yeah, it’s me, little Ame.” he said, again in a soft but much louder voice. I threw my arms around him, when he said this, burying my head against his chest and I couldn’t help it, crying harder now. _

_ “K-Kumo... I-I’ve missed you so much....” I hiccuped and he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him. _

_ “I know.” he murmured and I pulled back, looking at him with almost a pitiful glare. _

_ “W-why did you leave...?” _

_ His arms tightened around me and he kissed my forehead. “I’m sorry, I won’t leave you again, I promise.” he whispered and I sniffed, smiling softly now as I leaned my head against his chest, closing my eyes. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

I woke up to my head pounding and tears crawling down my cheeks and I groaned, burying my face into my pillow before finally sitting up and I sighed, opening my eyes and wiping the tears away. “D-damn it... not another one...” I hissed under my breath, resting my head back against the wall and I let out a harsh breath, trying to rid myself of the images from the dream.

It’s been exactly three weeks since that night and he kept showing up every time I closed my eyes. I haven’t even seen him since that day, which meant that he was actually keeping his promise and right at this moment, I wasn’t entirely sure if that counted as a good thing or not. I sighed again and closed my eyes, giving up on trying to make the thoughts disappear.

Ever since that day, only Ite and Rekkusu were fighting us and I’ve been nothing but upset since. I hated it when the demons showed up to pick fights, of course I did, but it was worse, knowing what I did. He’s supposed to be the bad guy, the one that shows up at every worst possible moment and ruins the best day you could ever have. He’s not supposed to be…  _ Fuck… Stop crying, you fucking rat… _ I wiped at my tears, until my face hurt so much that I had to stop and I groaned, opening my eyes again, staring at the space in front of me. These dreams aren’t helping either, and they only get worse each night and I can’t stand them; I’m about ready to just get the hell up and find the damned bastard myself and demand some fucking real explanation from him. I’ve had it with all this bullshit!

“I thought that I could easily forget about him... if I just… if I could just…  _ fuck _ …but I guess not.” I sighed for what felt like the millionth time since I’d woken up and I finally just decided to get up and get ready for another day of school and work.

I grabbed my clothes, took a quick shower, changed the bandages, and then got dressed before grabbing my clothes for work and stuffing them in an extra bag hanging on the door. Walking out of the room, I closed the door behind me and then headed off to class.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

Walking on my own, I kept my head lowered as I walked through the town and along the familiar path to the café. I was late, I knew I was, but I couldn’t summon even an ounce of energy to care. I was exhausted and I genuinely felt like the world was hanging on my shoulders, threatening to crush me at any given moment.

I walked in through the doors and groaned when I saw a lot of people sitting at the tables, the place filled with voices of all kinds and I barely held back a grimace, schooling my expression into one of nonchalance.

“You’re late Ame.”

I sighed and turned to greet Odori, who had her arms crossed as she expected an answer from me. I took a moment though, to look her over in her outfit; it’d taken a few days, but eventually Akatsuki and I convinced her to wear it throughout the entire work day, instead of changing halfway through shifts. She wore a dark purple lacy, long sleeved shirt that came just above her belly button, just like the one in her Spirit form, with a pair of normal purple shorts that had a silver belt buckled around the shorts. Her hair was also tied up in pigtails, though most definitely shorter, and they were near the base of her neck, rather than the sides of her head, with purple hair ties. On her feet were simple silver boots with a small lilac wolf/moon design on them.

“Yeah, I know... sorry Ori.” I said, giving my best smile and she sighed in return, shaking her head.

“Just get dressed and help us, we’ve got a full house today.” Akatsuki called out, not even looking at me as she tried to take a stubborn kids’ order, and I nodded, pitying her for a moment before walking to the bathroom and getting dressed.

When I came out, I was greeted by Kai, who had a wide grin on his face. “What?” I questioned, unnerved, but without a doubt not in the mood to play his silly games.

_ “Did you have another dream?” _

“No, I didn’t.” I mumbled, looking away with a small sigh, “I stopped having dreams a while ago, now go back upstairs Kai and leave me to do my work.” I brushed past him, not giving him a chance to reply, as I went into the kitchen to take care of the already piling stack of dirty dishes.  _ At least this gives me a few quiet moments away from the others… but unfortunately it leaves me alone with my thoughts… _

And what Kai had said a few weeks ago still rang inside my head,  _ ‘Just please... don’t do anything that will eventually hurt you.’  _ I sighed in frustration and deflated a little, though I scrubbed a bit too hard on one of the plates, glaring at it like it’d done something wrong.  _ In what way am I going to hurt myself? _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

“Hey, Ame!” I only raised my hand in a small wave before letting my arm collapse back onto the grass, my other behind my head as I stared up at the night sky, resting beside the lake. We’d all finished up work about an hour ago and the girls went off with their friends while I stayed behind, alone with my thoughts once more.

“Yeah?” I smiled when I turned my head, looking up at Akatsuki and Odori when they stopped, both not towering over where I laid.

“Guess what?” Odori questioned, her arms crossed and I raised an eyebrow in confusion, prompting her to continue. “My best friend, Gazeru, invited all three of us to her mother’s birthday party.”

“Really?” I asked her, sitting up now and Odori nodded. Though I didn’t _ really _ know who Gazeru was, I was guessing she was the chick with the short brown hair and brown eyes I had met a couple days ago when Odori’d brought her to work.  _ Man, she can really eat… _ I grimaced in my thought, remembering how often I’d had to go back to her table, bringing her more and more sweets each time.  _ It was like she had a black hole for a stomach, I swear. _

“Yes! This is huge!” Akatsuki shouted and I cringed, my headache still there from this morning. She looked a bit guilty when she noticed and she smiled sheepishly, rubbing at the back of her neck, “Sorry…”

I shook my head and then stood up, stretching out, “How is it huge?” I asked them and they both gaped at me, like I was stupid and with how they were looking at me, I certainly felt like it.

“Gazeru’s mother is the head of the Genseki Corporations,” Odori smirked and then she and Akatsuki looked at each other before both looking back at me and they practically exploded with excitement and giddiness.

“Miss. Siedo Heza!” they both shouted in unison and I admit that it did actually take me a few seconds to realize just who exactly they were talking about.  _ Wait,  _ the _ Siedo Heza had invited us to her birthday party!? This is... incredible! _

“T-that’s... that’s great!” I managed to stutter out, mostly in disbelief because, really, who would invite me personally to their birthday? Especially if you were a multimillionaire with your own corporation that has nearly expanded all over the world.

“Well duh!” Akatsuki snickered and shot Odori a look, a smirk now on both their faces, before they each grabbed one of my arms. No sooner had they done so, were they dragging me off to the shopping district.

“H-hey! W-where are we going!?” I jerked back, eyes still impossibly wide and Akatsuki hid another snicker while Odori looked back at me with a small sparkle to her eyes. If there was one thing that unnerved me more than demons and the unknown, it was a girl with that certain kind of spark in her eyes. It meant she was planning something devious and that I wasn’t particularly going to  _ like _ that something.

“We need to buy you an outfit for the party!” Akatsuki practically chirped in reply, staring straight ahead.

“I don’t have to pay for this, do I?” I groaned, grimacing a little as I remembered going shopping with Suta.  _ If it’s anything like that, then I’ll be broke before I even know it. _

Odori shook her head though, smiling reassuringly at me and I nearly sighed in relief, “No, Miss. Siedo already sent us money to cover for the expenses.” She explained and I nodded my head, thinking for a moment before finally allowing myself to relax and I let them pull me along.

“Alright then,” I purred, walking with them as we hit the shopping center, and I looked around at all the different stores, simultaneously missing both of their grins.

“But,” Akatsuki started that had me turning my attention to her and I frowned, confused and unsure, “there is one small problem, Ame,” she looked at Odori, who nodded her head, waving her free hand as a motion for Akatsuki to continue. But I tried at least getting in a word or two before she did, managing to do so easily as Akatsuki tried to figure out exactly how to say what she wanted to.

“Problem?”

“We sort of told Miss. Siedo that there were three girls coming to the party... not two girls and a boy.” The fox continued and I immediately felt myself freeze, eyes wide, and I stared at her like she was an alien.

And I nearly exploded at this, “What!?”

“So, this being said,” Odori grinned at me and I shook my head sharply, trying to struggle to get away, “you need to have a dress picked out for you. And as it turns out, we already have the perfect one in mind.” The grin on her face turned once more into a smirk that I was seriously starting to hate and she pushed me into one of the many dress stores in the district.  _ No! No, no, no! You can’t do this to me! I have my rights! _ I whined inside my head, trying to verbally protest against this ‘abuse’.

“No! I already have to wear a ridiculous outfit for the café! There is no way I’m wearing a dress to a birthday party!” I tried to quiet my voice when several people glared at me, but I only scowled back before turning back to my so-called friends. “Guys, please! You can’t make me wear a dress to this party! It’ll ruin my reputation...” I tried to reason with them but Odori only sent me a look that just screamed exasperation and disbelief.  _ Fuck you Odori! I have a reputation, I do! And you are not making me wear a fucking dress! ...okay, admittedly, that is kinda cute, but... what? No! Damn it... _

“Oh quit complaining and put go put these on, we need to know if they’ll work.” Akatsuki rolled her eyes, handing me some items of clothing before Odori pushed me into a random stall, closing it behind me.  _ And there went my only chance of escaping... _

“I already know that they won’t!” I groaned, slumping back against the stall door and I lowered my head, shaking it for a moment before looking up and I frowned, seeing my distraught reflecting in the mirror, holding the items that Akatsuki handed me, just a tad tighter than I should be.  _ Damn, I have got to stop looking so pathetic... _ I sighed,  _ maybe then they’ll stop thinking they can dress me up like a freaking doll. _

“Oh come on, it won’t be that bad, little Ame. And who knows, maybe there will be some really cute boys at the party that won’t mind a date with you.” she said and my heart felt like it stopped, my eyes wide and a bright blush spreading across my cheeks. _I hate that they know I’m gay!_ _They always use it against me at the most inopportune moments and it sucks... though admittedly, cute guys are a bonus to this event, even if they’ll think I’m a girl._

“I...” I paused and took a deep breath to calm myself down, “f-fine... but just this once...” I murmured, shaking my head once again when I heard the two hi-five with a whispered ‘yes,’ from Akatsuki and an ‘I told you it would work,’ from Odori. “But on one condition! You stop corrupting Kai’s mind with this nonsense.” I scowled at the door behind me, eyes narrowed when I heard a pretty unrealistic ‘sure’ from both of them. Rolling my eyes, I then decided to stop stalling and I set down the apparel, stripping off my own clothes before reluctantly putting on the outfit that’d been handed to me.

It was a few minutes later when I was done changing and I turned back to the mirror, my eyes closed tightly as I dreaded to see how I looked with the dress on. Opening my eyes though, I was surprised and shocked to see what I did: now, instead of my jacket and cloth shirt, I wore a black, long sleeved dress that went down to my knees with black stockings and black dress boots. I also wore black silk gloves that went up to my elbows and a gold headband in my hair. Around my waist, tied in a bow in the back, was a thin gold lace that almost made the outfit complete.

It did upset me a little, though the outfit itself was cute, because true to my thoughts, I really did look a lot like a girl with short hair. And if someone didn’t know me, they’d most certainly mistake me for one, I’m sure.

I sighed then and shook my head before looking back at my clothes; a ghost of a smile made its way to my lips when I caught sight of my jacket and I picked it up, digging into the left pocket before taking out a collar. The collar itself was small, thin and completely black, made of a material that felt as if it were made of clouds and attached to it, were two, small pure gold bells that made a small little ‘jingle’ sound when jostled. Putting the collar, hesitantly, around my neck, I felt my smile grow when I look up at the mirror once more and I reached a hand up, brushing my fingers gently over them so their sound was soft and quiet, heard only by me.

It’s been two weeks, since I’d found the collar, only a week after... after Kumo disappeared from my life. I had found it on my dresser one day, with only a single, small piece of paper that has only three small words upon it that had read  _ ‘I’m sorry, Kitten.’ _ There hadn’t even been a signature, or a sign of who could’ve write the note. I had a pretty vague guess as to who left it though, the only one who could get in and out of a place without being spotted, and the only one who knew truly about me being a cat, aside from my friends.

But strangely enough, even though I thought the collar was from Kumo, I still wore it around my neck, when I was alone. And I always carried it with me, never leaving it behind, even to go to class.

“Hurry up, Ame!”

Sighing softly to myself, I tugged on the end of the dress, looking myself over once more before knocking on the door, letting out a shaky breath, “I-I’m done...” I stuttered out and only barely just managed not to stumbled as Odori opened the door. I lowered my head and let my hair cover up my face, too embarrassed and too scared to look up at them, to see their expressions and what they thought of how I looked.  _ Pathetic, this is... _ I grumbled in my thoughts, but this didn’t make me any braver to face them outright.

I heard the two identical gasps and shook my head, closing my eyes tightly before snapping them wide open and looking up in disbelief when Odori spoke. “Oh Ame... you look so adorable in that outfit!”

I felt my cheeks heat up, blushing a little at her comment, and I ducked my head, rubbing at the back of my neck a little, unsure what to do, “I-I guess...” I said and she chuckled, shaking her head before nodding back towards my other clothes.

“Come on, grab your clothes and let’s go. I’ll pay for the outfit and then we can all head to my house so Akatsuki and I can get ready,” she gave a little push to my shoulder and I did as told, grabbing the clothes I had on a few minutes earlier and I stuffed them into a bag provided by Akatsuki.

“Alright,” Akatsuki said and grabbed my hand, walking with Odori to the counter as Odori handed the woman some money to pay what was owed. “And don’t worry Ame, everything is going to be great.”

“If you say so, Suki.” I mumbled, sending her a tiny, uncertain, smile to her when she smiled back at me in reassurance.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

When we got to Odori’s house, I went to sit down on the couch, careful of the dress, as the girls went upstairs to change. I was still in a bit of disbelief, after seeing how much the dress itself had cost, not to mention the extra for the boots, the gloves, and the headband.  _ Fuck... I am so glad that I really didn’t have to pay for all of this... _

Shaking my head, I sat back and decided to look around. Odori’s home was quaint and small, though it had an upstairs as well as a basement. The walls were a pale lavender color and the furniture was white, plush, and looked well-kept. There were a few different odd’s and end’s here and there, as well as pictures, and even several different plants kept around the place, all blooming with beautiful flowers.

“So, what do you think?” The sound of Odori’s voice jarred me from my thoughts and my current task, and I turned my head, my eyes widening just a bit when I saw their outfits.

Odori’s dress was a dark purple color, with sleeves made of what looked like silk, and the dress itself went down to her knees. On her hands were near white colored gloves that went to her elbows and upon her feet were white combat boots that surprisingly fit incredibly well with the dress. Around her neck was a silver chained necklace that had a smooth Amethyst attached to it, and if I didn’t know it’s true purpose, I would’ve thought it was just to match with the outfit.  _ Smart… _ I thought with a smirk before turning my attention to what Akatsuki was wearing.

Akatsuki’s outfit also fit her perfectly; the fox wearing a sleeveless red dress that had a white lace tied around the waist. Her dress shoes were red, with white laces, and she wore white stockings that complimented everything really well. In addition to everything else, she also wore red silk gloves that was trimmed white. Like Odori, she also had her gem around her neck, a small Ruby attached to another silver chain.

What got to me though, was the masks upon their faces: Odori’s was a silver wolf mask with painted on lilac markings and Akatsuki’s was a red fox mask with white markings painted onto it.  _ They fit their Spirit animals so perfectly... I almost wonder if they painted the markings on them themselves. _

“You guys look amazing!” I smiled, nodding my head as I stood up before tilting it when I directed my attention back to the masks. “But, what are the masks for?” I questioned, watching as they looked at each other before looking back at me.

“This party we’re going to, it’s a masquerade.” Akatsuki just barely held back a giggle when I groaned, shaking my head.

“Okay, seriously?” I grumbled, my eyes narrowed, “Anything else you forgot to mention to me?” I warily watched Odori walked up to me, holding one of her hands behind her back.

“Well, since it is a masquerade, you need you own mask, too.” She chuckled before pulling out a black cat mask, with gold markings painted on.  _ Okay, yep, that confirms it, they painted on the markings themselves. _ I thought with a frown when she tried putting the mask on me herself and I flinched back, hissing at her.

“Hey! Ow, damn it!”

“Sorry,” she apologized, holding back another chuckle when she stepped back.

“Next time,” I growled out, taking the mask off before putting it back on, this time the right way, “let me put it on myself.”

“Quit whining Ame, remember, cute boys?” Akatsuki smirked at me and I glared at her from behind the mask.  _ Cute boys my ass... I probably won’t even stay long enough to meet one, let alone talk or dance with one... _ “Now then, here is your gem,” she handed me my own necklace and I took it, grateful to have the gemstone with me now, even if we were only going to a party, and I nodded to what she added next, Odori right beside me, “let’s go, shall we?”

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Ite grinned as he held a small ruby in his hand, looking at his brothers. “You guys ready to crash a party?” he questioned, his voice practically an easy purr and Taiyo and Rekkusu both nodded. Taiyo smiled softly as he looked at the gem he was holding, a pure clear diamond, while Rekkusu snickered, tossing up a small Amethyst, catching it before repeating the process a few more times. _

_ “Your most genius plan yet, Ite,” he smirked, looking up at his older brother, eyes narrowed and sparkling with excitement and pleasure. _

_ Ite only chuckled, clenching the gem he held a little tighter before looking at Kumo, his younger brother staring at the little onyx stone he held in his own hands. “Are you coming, Kumo?” he questioned, watching with narrowed eyes when Kumo turned his head away, sighing softly. _

_ “No,” he shrugged, appearing nonchalant, “why don’t you three go on without me?” _

_ Rekkusu scowled at him, pausing in his actions and he let out a sharp breath. “Cat got your tongue, bat brain?” The ghost crossed his arms, his eye twitching when Kumo looked up at him, glaring a little. _

_ “Fuck off, Rekks,” he snapped back, low and dangerous and the ghost only scoffed, rolling his eyes and he shook his head. _

_ “Three weeks and you’ve done nothing but sit around and mope and when you’re not here, you’re off somewhere else, doing fucking who knows what? Why don’t you just grow a pair and suck it up! You’re not the only damn one here and in case you’re forgetting, we’re on a mission!” _

_ “Don’t you think I know that!?” Kumo barked, standing up sharply, clenching his fists. Ite sighed and shook his head, stepping up before either of them could go after the other in their anger. _ One of these days they’re going to tear each other a part and I won’t be here to stop them... _ he thought sadly. _

_ “Rekkusu, enough,” he said, his tone authoritative, but his voice soft, and Rekkusu turned away, scowling at the ground. “Kumo, one way or another, we will have to do this... with or without you.” Ite added, turning back to Kumo and the vampire tensed, but he looked away, his eyes closed tightly. “Come on, let’s go.” Directing his attention back towards Taiyo, who was only frowning, and Rekkusu, who still seethed with bottled up anger, he nodded his head before each disappeared. _

_ It was only moments after when Kumo opened up his eyes and he sighed, deflating and slumping against the pillar behind him, when he saw that his brothers were gone. Holding up the stone, he stared at it, allowing only a hint of a smile play at his lips. “Well, it’s been three weeks...” he whispered, “I wonder how the little kitten is doing right now.” It was only then that he took into account what Ite and Rekkusu had said and he clenched his fist around the stone, his eyes closed once more, before they opened, determination flooding through him and he disappeared. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

As soon as we’d gotten to the house, I already knew I was screwed; even more so when we got inside and I whimpered, looking around. The entire house was huge, larger than Jeimi’s own, and several people were walking around with many different dresses, suits, and masks.

Odori was gone as soon as we hit the entrance, having headed off with her friend, Gazeru, and Akatsuki was only with me until we reached the main gathering area.  _ ‘Cheer up Ame,’ _ she’d said,  _ ‘enjoy the party and actually try to have fun for once in your life.’ _ That was right before she disappeared into the crowd, leaving me on my own.

Shaking my head with another whimper, I made my way over to one of the many tables with snacks and drinks upon it and I got myself a glass of water, gulping it down to calm my nerves. Only when I set the glass down, did I notice a shadow near by.

“Hey Ame, you’re still dressing up like a girl, I see.” I growled a little, letting out a sharp breath through my nose when I heard the familiar voice, one that I hadn’t heard in at least two years. Turning my head, I glared a little at the redhead that the shadow belonged to, watching as he got himself a glass of punch. Looking him over, I noticed that he still had that odd fascination with the color red, his red suit neat and looking as if he’d just bought it. His mask was that of a red hawk, almost like the one that I’d fought when I first met Akatsuki.

“Makkusu,” I greeted, sighing and shaking my head, crossing my arms, “since when have I ever dressed up like a girl?” I questioned, knowing that as soon as he smirked that I’d asked exactly the wrong question.  _ Damn him... he’s probably got a whole photo album of me dressing up... oh wait... fuck! I remember now... _ I groaned in my head, feeling my face heating up and I was so glad that I had the mask on.

Taking off his own mask, he smirked at me, and I glanced away. “Let’s see now, almost every holiday that we’ve spent together,” he chuckled and made a reach for his wallet but I stopped him.  _ I do not want to relive that day, thank you very much! _

Truth is, I used to dress up frequently in little dresses and skirts. It had been one of my favorite things to do, of course I never understood why myself. Since the day of the fire, my mind has been a bit hazy, but I knew for sure that I’d done so when I was little, too. It all stopped though... one Christmas week. When Makkusu and I went to the mall to do late Christmas shopping with Aunt Jeimi; it was after meeting with Santa, when a bunch of boys a little older than me picked on me. The had teased me, pushed me around, called me names, and it wasn’t until Makkusu showed up again that they stopped. But, even still, ever since then I gave it all up and I gave away all the outfits I owned.

“Sorry for asking... look, just... Makkusu, what are you doing here?” I questioned, finally deciding to just change the subject, making friendly conversation and whatnot.

“Oh didn’t you know? Gazeru is my girlfriend,” he smirked when my eyes widened behind my mask and I gasped at him.

“Huh? Seriously!?” I frowned in question and he burst into laughter, shaking his head.

“No,” I nearly sighed with relief before he spoke again, “remember, bone-head, I’m the son of a big and famous corporation owner.” He puffed out, rolling his eyes and I laughed a little, rubbing at the back of my neck sheepishly.  _ Right... of course that’s how he’s here... _

“Oh right...” I murmured and the scowled, flinching back when he flicked my head, just above the mask.

“Tch, well, I can see you haven’t changed a bit,” he chuckled when I pouted at him.

“Neither have you,” I stuck my tongue out with the retort and he snickered, reaching out and ruffling my hair. I made a move to grab his wrist, getting him to stop before pushing his hand back towards him.

“And still just as touchy about the hair!” Laughing once more, he shook his head before taking up his drink again, along with his mask and he winked at me, “Gotta dash, so... don’t get yourself into any trouble, eh, little Ame?” With that said, and a slight scowl from me, I watched as he left to go mingle with the crowd, his mask already placed back upon his face.

I let out a heavy sigh and frowned, shaking my head before finally walking through the crowd. It took me a few minutes, trying to look for something to do that didn’t involve dancing or talking with strangers, but eventually I ended up wandering outside. Taking my mask off and rubbing a hand over my face and through my hair, I finally looked around at my surroundings.

The porch was beautiful, covered in soft lights that made the place glow, and just beyond the porch was a large yard with several gardens and in the middle of the yard was a beautiful white crystal fountain that looked like it was glowing, beneath the pale moonlight. “Wow...” I whispered, leaning up against the railing and I folded my arms across it, leaning my head on top of them.

It was only a few minutes later when I felt another’s presence and I barely tensed, thinking it was some guy looking for company. I wasn’t expecting it to be Odori; jumping slightly and letting out a sharp gasp, when I felt a tap to my shoulder and I turned around. She giggled and winked at me, a smirk on her face, “What are you doing out here, all alone, missy?”

“Don’t call me that,” I growled out, narrowing my eyes at her and she held up her hands in defence, laughing a little.

“Sorry, but seriously, shouldn’t you be at the party, inside, entertaining a lot of cute boys?” I shook my head sharply at that, scrunching my nose up.

“No thank you,” I huffed out and her smirk only grew.

“And what’s the reason you don’t want to?” she questioned, poking my side and I squirmed away, feeling heat come to my face once more. I wish I still had my mask on, at least then it’d hide the blush. Now I had nothing to shield myself with and she could see it so very clearly in the light, I’m sure.

“No reason at all, I just don’t want to  _ entertain _ any boys right now, or ever for that fact.” I murmured, crossing my arms and looking back out to the garden.

“Oh I see,” she chuckled softly and I watched from the corner of my eyes as her smirk diminished to a smile, “I know what’s going on.” I glanced at her, frowning a little and biting my lower lip, when she turned her gaze to the gardens as well. “Kai told me what he thinks about what you’ve said to him.”

“I-I don’t... I don’t know what you’re t-talking about,” I immediately denied what she was about to say, or at least what she was thinking, cursing myself when I stuttered and cursing Kai for being the traitor that he is.

“We’re your friends, Ame. We know what’s going on, whether you like to admit it or not, and you don’t.” Shaking her head then, she smiled at me, “You don’t have to admit it, not to me. But you might want to try and admit it to yourself, for once.”

I scowled at this and backed away from her and from the railing, uncrossing my arms and clenching my fists. “I hate him!” I tried to put as much venom into my voice, but it only came out as an embarrassing squeak. Odori frowned at me, opening her mouth to say something back, but before she could, both of our attentions were turned back to the house when we heard Akatsuki giggling obnoxiously.

Akatsuki was currently latched onto another girl, who had long blonde hair tied into pigtails and pretty ice blue eyes. A snow leopard mask was hanging around her neck and I noted that her dress was a bit longer than my own; white with a leopard print pattern. Her boots were long, as well, and were a very pale grey color that matched the color of her gloves.

“I found another one!” Akatsuki sang out and my eyes widened, turning back to look at the fox. I noticed then that she seemed a little way more than drunk, her own mask hanging around her neck as well, and I cringed at the light smell of alcohol that hit me then. But it didn’t manage to distract me from what she said.  _ Another one? Does she mean...? _ Looking back at the annoyed blonde, I smirked.  _ Could she possibly be the fourth Spirit? _


	13. Chapter 12

Staring at the blonde, I couldn’t help the thoughts running through my head.  _ Have we really found another Spirit? Does she really have a Gem Soul...? Where is her Spirit Mark? What’s her animal, her gem, even? _ I didn’t have a single answer for any of them, but I could always take a guess. “And you are?” I finally spoke up, directing the question towards the new girl as Odori looked back and forth between myself and Akatsuki.

“Annoyed... can you please get this girl off of me?” She sighed, running her free hand over her face, and I chuckled a little; even Odori couldn’t help the tiny laugh that escaped her. “She’s been clinging to me like a cat to a sofa from the moment we met.”

“Alright,” I nodded slowly and tilted my head, directing my attention to Akatsuki, “Suki, let go of the nice girl, okay?”

She whined though, her grip tightening, judging by the wince I saw from the blonde. “But Ame! She’s one of us!” I sighed softly and shook my head once more, glancing at the blonde and I frowned as I looked her over once more. I still wondered where he mark was, if she was one. If she didn’t have a mark, then… how would Akatsuki know she was a Spirit?

“You still need to let go of her, I think you’re starting to hurt the poor girl,” I said softly, nodding my head to her and she pouted, but reluctantly nodded back and she slowly loosened her grip, just enough for the other to get out of her grasp.

“Fine...” Akatsuki crossed her arms and for a moment it was silent, while the blonde took the time to straighten her dress and fix her hair. But it wasn’t long until the fox was speaking again, and as quick as lightning, she moved the mask from around the girl’s neck. “But just look! She has a mark just like us,” saying this, she pointed to the blonde’s chest with her free hand. I felt my jaw drop, my eyes widening, as I saw my confirmation.  _ Her Spirit Mark… _ Said Spirit Mark was a small pale blue snowflake on her chest with two other, smaller silver-white snowflakes on each side.

The moment Akatsuki revealed her mark, the girl’s eyes widened and she took a step back, taking her mask back from the fox. “It’s my birthmark,” she immediately said with a frown, her eyes narrowed at us now, “and you guys are clearly insane,” before turning around, as if about to leave, but Akatsuki wouldn’t let her. “Let me go!”

Ignoring her demand, Akatsuki whined and shook her head, her arms wrapped tight around the blonde’s left one. Odori frowned at this, but she turned back to me anyway, leaving Akatsuki to her own devices for now, which were actually quite effective, if the scene was anything to go by. “So, do you really think she’s one of us?” she asked in a low whisper and I sighed softly, deep in thought as I glanced back at the blonde. It was a few seconds later when I made up my mind and I nodded my head slowly, turning my gaze towards Odori as I answered back.

“The mark clarifies it,” I whispered, and took a moment to consider something else, but I shook my head again, confused and curious both at the same time. “We just have to figure out what her gemstone is,” I trailed off when I looked back out to the gardens and I paused, my gaze coming once more to the fountain.  _ Made of crystal… _ I recalled, realization dawning on me then and I looked back at the girl.  _ Diamond… could it be? Is it really that simple…? _

Before I could confirm it, we all froze, stopping everything, when we heard a loud, dark laugh. “Well well well, the Ruby carrier, the Amethyst carrier, and the Onyx carrier; all in one place, how perfectly wonderful.” I recognized the voice immediately and sighed in annoyance and frustration. Turning around, I was met with the sight of Ite, Taiyo, and Rekkusu, all floating in the air, just feet away from the ground and several feet away from the porch.

“Ite.” I spat in greeting, crossing my arms as I glared at the three. “What a big surprise to see you here. Come to crash the party then?” I growled before pausing completely, unable to believe my eyes and ears when I realized that they were  _ laughing _ at me… me!  _ Why the fuck are they laughing!? _ “What!?” I snapped, clenching my fists after uncrossing my arms.

Almost immediately Taiyo let out a choked laugh, “W-why… why are you w-wearing a… a… d-dress…?” he gasped out in between giggles as his brothers were too busy laughing their asses off, well, Rekkusu was anyway, while Ite was chuckling with a vicious smirk on his face, and I felt heat come to my cheeks, realizing that this was one thing that I never wanted to show my worst enemies…  _ ever _ . I shook my head sharply and growled, suddenly glad to have my gemstone around my neck.  _ Fuck though, I never thought I’d actually need it! _

“Onyx!” And no sooner had I said it, did I change, from one form to another, finally glad to be rid of the dress. My ears laid back against my head and my tail flicked out violently even as I muttered to myself, “Ah, finally...” Shaking my head again, I held out my hands and summoned my blade, baring my fangs in a sharp hiss when I glared at the demons once more.

“F-fuck… y-you just… w-what…?” My ears twitched when I heard the blonde stutter something out from behind me and I only barely just felt a just of amusement inside me. But I ignored her for the moment and I spoke again, anger dripping with my every word.

“Now, what the hell are you three doing here!?” Ite’s chuckles died down and his smirk only widened when I saw from the corner of my eyes that Odori was gripping tightly to her necklace, ready to use it the second she was needed. I couldn’t tell what Akatsuki and the blonde was doing though… behind my back as they were.  _ I can only hope that the door to the porch is shut… so the people inside remain oblivious to what’s going on out here… _ I thought with a small frown now upon my lips.

“Would you rather Kumo was here rather than us?” Ite questioned and I almost faltered, stumbling where I stood and I choked on my breath, my eyes wide and I could only guess that the blush on my face was darker than before. Gripping my blade tighter, I let out a shaky breath and shook my head, my body as stiff as a long and I felt, for one horrifying moment, that I would break, reminded of my dreams and of the past few weeks that have been hell.

“N-no!” I stuttered out, my tail quivering behind me and I took a shaky step forward. “Just answer me, damn it!”

“Oh, but you’ve already guessed it,” Rekkusu smirked, wiping his eyes as if he’d laughed so hard he cried, and it only pissed me off even more, “we’ve come to crash a very special party tonight.”

“Good luck getting past us.” Odori growled darkly, stepping up to my side and she muttered her stone’s name under her breath, changing into her Spirit form. Her ears were flicking non-stop and her tail quivered and swished from side to side. Akatsuki was soon on my other side, her cheeks still a little red, but her eyes was narrowed dangerously as she grabbed her own gem around her neck.

“Ruby!” she growled and changed, into her Gem form before summoning her bow, holding her hand out. “Heart Bow!” She held out her other hand and summoned an arrow, ears lowered and tail lashing out furiously. Odori called out for her own Spirit Weapon, her whip materializing in her hand and I felt relief and happiness that they were on my side.

It was then though that I heard the blonde speak again and I winced, “What... the... hell.... is going on!?” she shouted furiously and I frowned, glancing back at her before looking back at the fountain.  _ If only I can… just… shit… What do I do…? _

“Akatsuki, Odori,” I directed to them in a hiss that was just barely above a whisper, loud enough for them to hear me, “cover for me while I get to the fountain.”

“What?!” Odori growled at me, eyes narrowed and then she paused before scowling. “Don’t you  _ dare _ ! That’s Gazeru’s property! She’ll have my hide if you destroy it… Ame!” I just shook my head and ran forward, startling the wolf and the demons. “Damn it, cat!” Odori barked, but she did as told and followed after me, only stopped to throw out her whip, blocking Rekkusu’s path when the ghost tried going after me.

“Fuck!” Ite cried out, and I only barely managed a glance back in time to see arrow after arrow fired at the demon. It was then that I caught sight of the blonde and I felt a pang of sympathy when I saw her just standing there, frozen, with her eyes wide as she stared at the scene.  _ I’ll hopefully be changing that soon enough… _ I thought meekly, directing my attention back at the fountain,  _ only a few feet left and then I can- _ I was cut off from my thoughts, nearly singed to a crisp when fire was thrown at me and I jumped back, bristling in anger as I turned to Taiyo.  _ Fuck! I forgot about him! _

Just a few days I’d discovered in a very unfortunate way that Taiyo was a demon able to control fire and conjure it up from out of nowhere. The unfortunate part about it all was that I’d nearly gotten burnt to a crisp, though lucky only my tail had gotten the brunt of the attack, though it had been fucking painful and I had to soak in a bath for about an hour or so, still in my Spirit form, before the pain wasn’t so excruciating.

Throwing my blade around, I watched as Taiyo had to duck away to avoid the dark slash that cut through the air.  _ Ha! _ I grinned sharply and sprinted the rest of the way to the fountain, avoiding a giant ball of fire at the same time and I turned sharply on my feet, turning my blade around and I used the hilt to break off a piece of the diamond statue, part of the bird’s wing falling apart. I ignored the vicious bark from Odori and grabbed one of the bigger pieces, ignoring as the sharp stone cut into my hand from how tight I gripped it and I turned once more, jumping away and shielding myself from a large funnel of fire directed at me.

“Hey blondie!” I shouted, catching the girl’s attention and thankfully breaking her from her frightened trance, though her eyes were still very wide. “Catch!” I threw the stone at her, hoping to whatever God out there that this was the right gemstone.  _ She has to be the Diamond carrier… she has to… Otherwise… we’re screwed. _

I watched though as she caught the stone, stumbling forward and away from the doors, nearly falling into the railing on the porch and she stared at the stone before gripping it tightly as if that was her only thing keeping her grounded. I opened my mouth to shout back to her, to give her instructions, but she surprised me with what she did next, “Diamond!” She called out and I couldn’t believe my eyes.  _ Yes! She’s a Spirit! I actually can’t believe I was right! The diamond worked! _

The gemstone changed her entire appearance, her hair color changing from long blonde pigtails to a short white ponytail, with black bangs, and her eyes changed from ice blue to obsidian. Her dress, though, seemed to not have changed at all; the leopard print still there, but her sleeves were longer now and her dress was a bit shorter than it had been. Her boots were no longer pale grey, but instead were all silver with a black trim and black soles. Around her neck, instead of the mask, was a silver-chained necklace with a diamond attached to it, much like ours had been; I noted then that her gem was only there because her mark had been on her chest. On her hands were full silver-white gloves that had a black trim and black fingertips, with small diamonds almost forming a bracelet around both of her wrists.

Atop her head, sticking out from her hair, were round silver ears with black tips and a long silver and black tail as well. And now that I think on it, it’s no surprise to me that her Spirit animal is a snow leopard.

“That’s enough, damn it!” Ite snapped and my attention was turned towards him, my eyes wide when I saw him block an arrow, using some sort of invisible force to throw it out of his way and the arrow shot at the ground, quivering violently as it tore into the grass, sticking upright and out of the ground before disappearing completely. He grabbed out a small gemstone, one I recognized to be a ruby, and his smirk returned, his eyes becoming hardened with annoyance and anger. Throwing the gem into the air, even Odori and Rekkusu stopped fighting for a moment to watch.

The moment the gem was tossed into the air, a dark red aura surrounded it and I saw as it made Akatsuki tense. She must’ve felt something the rest of us couldn’t, and I wondered, for a moment, what exactly that gem was for.

“What the hell is with the gems!?” she growled, bow and arrow poised and ready to strike.

Ite only laughed, holding out his arms and when the the aura grew, taking the shape of a shadowed figure, he spoke, “Come on out my little pet,” he practically purred and the aura disappeared. Akatsuki, Odori, the blonde, and I all stood frozen as the black fox landed on the ground, ears laid back and tail lashing out as it crouched low onto the ground, glaring and growling dangerously at Akatsuki. Her eyes widened, frozen still as she was, and I growled, the first to snap from the shock and the fear.

“What the hell is that thing!?” I snapped, taking a heavy step forward, the grip on my blade tightening just a bit, enough to turn my knuckles white from the force, and Ite’s smirk turned to a wide grin, his fangs glinting in the soft light of the lanterns all around us.

“This,” he directed to the fox, “is what you’re going to be fighting. Our own little breed of Kiseichu that fascinatingly take the form of existing Spirits such as yourself.” he snickered at Akatsuki when she let out a shaky breath, the grip on her bow tightening and she was visibly shaking. “Oh but, it’s too bad that my dear little brother Kumo isn’t here with your little… Spirit animal, my darling little panther cub.” I bristled when he said this to me and took another step forward, just about ready to beat the smirk right off of his face, until I froze, my eyes wide when I heard Akatsuki.

“B-but... it’s a fox...” her voice shook as she spoke, trembling still and the sight tugged at my heart strings.  _ Akatsuki… _ I thought pitifully, taking in a deep breath before letting it out slowly and I addressed her, speaking low and gentle.

“Akatsuki, look at me,” she slowly did so, hesitant, and I kept her gaze on mine, “that thing isn’t a fox. It’s a Kiseichu, a demon…” I kept my voice steady and when I repeated the words, “It’s only a demon…” she snapped out of it her eyes hardened as her lips turned down in a tight frown. She nodded her head slowly before turning back to the fox before her and she steadied her bow once more.  _ That’s the Akatsuki I know… _ I smiled at the thought before snapping my attention back to the demons, watching as Rekkusu and Taiyo stepped up then, each throwing their own gem into the air.

The amethyst that Rekkusu had thrown into that air was surrounded by a dark purple aura before changing quickly into a black wolf that landed right beside the fox. The gem that Taiyo threw into the air, a diamond, was also surrounded by an aura, a dark grey, almost black light and it changed into a dark grey, almost black leopard that landed, perfectly, on the other side of the fox. And they were both looking straight at Odori and the blonde.

“Odori!” I shouted and that’s when the battle began turning tides. I jumped back sharply, avoiding a thick funnel of fire, unable to do anything as the Kiseichu jumped at my friends and attacked them. “Hey blondie!” I snapped, jumping away from another of Taiyo’s fireball’s once more, “Call out your Spirit Weapon!” The moment I saw her jumping back, away from the leopard, was the moment that she heeded my order and she held out both her hands.

“Tempest Fans!” she hissed, baring her teeth, her tail lashing out, and at that moment two identical black and white fans appeared in her hands, each poised and ready to be used. I watched as she waved them around, when the leopard jumped at her, but that was all I could see before having my attention stolen once more and I was knocked onto my back when Rekkusu took a swing at me.

I caught glimpses, of Akatsuki and Odori each fighting their own battle, striking the fox and the wolf and dodging what attacks they could.

I caught my breath and rolled out of the way when Rekkusu brought down a giant silver greatsword, the blade tearing into the ground where I had been before and I got up, hissing at the ghost before jumping away and I turned to Ite, who was looking at the scene with a sick gleam of pleasure in his eyes. “Ite! Damn you, you bastard! Why the hell are you doing this!? They’re their own Spirit animals you son of a bitch!” I snapped at him and gripped my blade tightly in my hands, rushing forward and jumping up, slashing my sword at him, not surprised when he easily dodged the attack.

He only grinned once again at me though and I felt my blood boil when he did. “It’s simple, these little animals,” he chuckled and only barely glanced back at the Kiseichu before looking back at me, “were made especially to, shall I say, end a Spirit’s little life?” he purred out and dodged another swing of my blade.

“You bastard!” Spinning my blade around, I unleashed my fury and used every ounce of strength I had in the swing, this time hitting him square in the side. Feeling a sense of pride, I had successfully managed to knock him back onto the ground, a stunned and pained groan leaving his lips when he collided with both the ground and the fountain. I barely winced when I realized the fountain surface had crumbled a little more with the force of the collision, but I couldn’t focus on that at the moment as he glared at me, harsh breaths leaving him in strained gasps.

“Damn, and to think Kumo was right...” Ite hissed under his breath, but I still heard, and my ears twitched lightly at the words, a smirk making its way to my face as he held his side, blood soaking now through his shirt. I glared at him, but froze when he I realized he’d mentioned his brother. “You really are strong when your friends are on the line...” he said and sighed, Taiyo immediately floating down by his side, eyes wide and he went straight to healing the demon’s wounds. I resisted the urge to knock Taiyo away and watch the bastard before me suffer.

“What did you think...?” I questioned dangerously, holding my blade out in front of me and I pointed it directly at him. “That I would just let you destroy them..? Well so much for that, because without getting past me, I won’t let you!” The moment I shouted at him, was the moment that Rekkusu appeared in front of me, a vicious glare directed towards me and I had no chance to react as he collided his sword against my side and I stumbled back, letting out a startled cry of pain. “ _ Fuck! _ ” I hissed out, barely realizing, with fury bubbling inside of me, that Taiyo and Ite had disappeared the moment that Rekkusu had come to the other demon’s aid. “Heh, I’d say you’re a little outmatched by your skill level,” I taunted, despite the pain and he snarled at me, holding his blade straight out at me just as I had done with my own towards Ite only moments before.

“Don’t count on it.” he seethed before dashing forward with that heavy sword and he jumped up, bringing the sword down with him. My eyes widened and I brought up my own sword just in time to block, grunting with the force of the collision and wincing when the sound of metal against metal rang out loudly around the yard.

I pushed him back and growled out, low and dark and dangerous, my fangs bared and my ears lowered fully to my head. “Lucky shot.” I retorted back and jumped forward like he did, watching as he shifted position, as if thinking exactly what I was going to do. “Stupid ghost,” I hissed then, “you can’t predict my moves that easily.” I smirked and I quickly jumped up and flipped over him, just as I had done when I’d fought with Kumo. I grinned sharply with he tensed and I spun around in the air, bring the sword around me with the force of it’s weight before connecting with-  _ fuck! _ “What the!?!” I choked out, eyes wide when I landed onto my feet on the ground, barely stumbling because of my previous wound, and I heard him laugh, the sound coming from just behind me.

“You forgot what I can do, stupid cat.” he sneered at me, “And to think my brother ever managed to fall in love with the likes... of... you!” he roared out and I didn’t even enough time to turn around or jump away before I felt his sword collide with my back.

I screamed out, the sound loud and filled with so much pain even to my own ears, and I fell forward, landing onto the ground with a harsh, loud thud, my mind freezing up.  _ K-kumo... where are you...? _ I whispered in my head and winced badly as I tried to get up. My sword had disappeared when I’d collided with the ground, but I didn’t have the strength to call it back. I hissed when I felt a foot collide with the gash on my back and I felt tears come to my eyes. Rekkusu laughed, loud and dark, triumphant in having brought me down and I couldn’t even struggle away from him, in fear of tearing the wound further, even the mark on my side.

It was then that I saw my friends, all struggling against the Kiseichu, each looking exhausted and worn out and Akatsuki looked the most distraught. “A-Akat….suki!” I tried shouting but I choked on her name, not even catching her attention and I closed my eyes tightly as soon as I saw her fall, knocked back by the demon’s strength and power.

Just when I was ready to give up, to surrender and plead for my friends’ and my own life, I felt the weight on my back disappear and I heard a sharp, strangled yelp from the ghost. “Fuck! Kumo!?” Rekkusu grunted out and I froze, eyes snapping wide open.  _ Kumo…? _ “What the hell are you doing here??”  _ Kumo’s here…? He’s really… but… I don’t… understand… _ I thought, struggling to get up on shaky arms and I finally sat up, shifting so I was facing the two demon’s and I finally actually felt the tears already crawling down my cheeks when I saw Kumo, his blades out and crossed against Rekkusu’s own, standing there, pushing the ghost back and away from me.

“Don’t you know not to mess with  _ my _ kitten?” he growled, his voice low, dark and cold, the same tone from my dreams, but this time I felt no fear and instead I felt only relief and hope and a strange sense of happiness wash over me. I barely even felt the light ghost of a smile play at my lips, blinking my eyes to try and rid the tears from them, but they never stopped.

“Well now...” I said weakly, instead, trying to play up the role of the tough guy. _After all,_ _I’m not… some damn princess to be… saved…_ I thought to myself as Kumo froze, turning sharply towards me with wide eyes. “This is one thing I never expected from you...” I mumbled and winced, my eyes twitching and my tail quivering with the pain. “I thought that you said... no… no more you…?”

“And see you get killed? Not a chance in hell,” he snapped at me and my smile grew at his response, if only just by a little bit, though. “Odori, Akatsuki, leopard girl, change back to your normal forms in order to get the blood hounds off of your backs.” Kumo ordered and I glanced back behind me, holding my breath. The blonde was the first to do so, hesitant, before figuring out how and her Spirit form disappeared, replaced by what she normally looked like. Her fans had also disappeared, but she didn’t seem so bothered by that when the leopard finally backed off of her.

Akatsuki was the next to change back, her bow disappearing and she gave an audible sigh of relief when the fox let out a strange whine before jumping away, following the leopard’s lead and both disappeared before our eyes. Even the stones were gone, no longer there, and I could only assume that with the ‘trail’ gone, they would go back to where they came from and be gone forever.

“O-odori…” I grimaced when my voice came out as a squeak and Odori’s head snapped up, her eyes wide, and that seemed to be what made up her mind. She changed, her whip gone from sight and her Spirit form was replaced by the outfit she had on before the demon’s showed up.

“Ame!” she got up, as quick as lightning, and rushed over to me, kneeling by my side, but I could only focus now on the demons as Rekkusu scowled at his brother.  _ Kumo… why…? _

“What the hell are you doing Kumo!?” Rekkusu snapped at him and Kumo only glared back at him in response. He was pissed, and everyone knew it.  _ What are you doing…? _

“Don’t ever mess with my kit ever again.” he said harshly and Rekkusu’s eyes widened as he stumbled back, like he’d been physically struck and his blade disappeared completely from sight.  _ I thought… we made a deal… but… _

“But-?!”

“Got it?” Kumo snarled and Rekkusu turned his head away, letting out a harsh sigh.

“Fine... but you’ll pay for ruining that plan.” he under his breath, sending me one last glare before disappearing, leaving Kumo standing there with his back faced towards me. Only when the ghost was gone, did Kumo’s swords disappear from sight. I watched him, stand there for several moments before I suddenly felt light-headed and I grimaced, barely noting that Akatsuki was by my side now, too.

“Thanks... Ku... Kumo...” I whispered before falling back onto the ground  _ …I’m glad you came back…  _ and I fainted from blood loss. I hadn’t even realized that Akatsuki and Odori shouted my name, struggling to help me up and off of my back.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Kumo froze, when he heard what his little kitten had said, and he’d wanted to turn around so bad, but he stayed put, only clenching his fists tightly. Taking a deep breath, he disappeared from sight, going back to his brothers and ready for the consequences of his actions. No doubt Ite was pissed; Rekkusu had probably already told their older brother everything that he’d done. Oh but Taiyo… the youngest probably felt so confused about it all.  _ What have I done…? _ Kumo thought with a bitter frown, but it only turned dark when he remembered the sight of Rekkusu standing over Ame, the blood soaking the ground and the pain upon his kitten’s face…  _ He hurt Ame, made him  _ cry _ , damn it. And he’s going to pay for that…

_ “Damn it Kumo!” Rekkusu shouted at Kumo the moment that the vampire had appeared before his brothers. “You ruined a perfect plan!” _

_ “You did that all on your own.” he snapped back, his fists clenched tightly and Ite pushed his way in between the two, his wound healed now, thanks to Taiyo. _

_ “Enough, both of you. Yes, our chance of getting rid of the Spirits was a fail, but Rekkusu, as Kumo said, you leave Ame alone. We still need him for our plan,” Ite said and shot a glare at Kumo, who clearly ignored it the moment that he mentioned the plan, bristling at his older brother. _

_ “Needed or not, that little bitch hurt you!” Rekkusu growled out and Ite sighed, shaking his head. _

_ “It wasn’t that bad, Rekks. You don’t need to worry about me, we have Taiyo here.” Taiyo smiled a little, perking up when he was mentioned, and Ite smiled back at the youngest before turning his attention back to the other two. “Just focus on getting the Onyx carrier,  _ unharmed _ , so we can restore our home.” he reminded them and Rekkusu sighed deeply. _

_ “Fine, but what about Kumo? He can’t keep doing this, it’ll ruin our chances of even getting that cat.” he complained and Kumo turned away from them, walking a few steps away. _

_ “You don’t need to worry about me, but if you hurt him, I will do the same to you.” he growled, low in his throat, and Rekkusu glared at him. _ Is he fucking stupid or something!?

_ “Kumo, Ame won’t go without a fight. If he chooses to not go with us peacefully, we’ll have no other choice than to harm him so that we can use him. Now give up this stupid goose chase and just help us. He’s not ever going to like you back, you’ve said it yourself, now stop fucking around and help us.” Ite said, his voice harsh and while Rekkusu nodded in agreement, Taiyo flinched back, frowning as he looked at his brothers. _

_ Kumo growled at this and summoned his blades, turning around sharply. “Enough already! I don’t care what you say, nothing will change my mind.” he seethed, tense and furious. _

_ “He won’t ever fall in love with a hot-headed freak like you! Your chance with that stupid, foolish, bitch of a cat is a big fat zero!” he shouted and for a moment, everything stood still, until Kumo scowled and he disappeared without a single word, his swords gone with him. _

_ “You went too far this time... Rekks.” Ite sighed and turned to leave as well, leaving Taiyo and Rekkusu alone. _

_ “Rekks, what Kumo does with the cat is none of our business, just as long as we are still able to return to our home, okay?” Taiyo said to him and left as well. _

_ “Whatever.” he sighed in frustration and left to follow Ite and Taiyo. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Kumo sighed deeply as he stared at the night sky, sitting atop the same archway where he had first met Ame. The very moment that he first decided that the little kitten would be his and no one else’s. “Why had I fallen for such a measly human?” he murmured to himself, staring up at the sky. _

It’s been almost four months since I’d first met him. He’d been walking down this exact sidewalk to go to the school dormitories, if I remember correctly, that is.

_ Kumo smirked, thinking back to how Ame had looked back then. _ His skin glimmering in the sun. I remember that he had only just recently been at the pool, where he’d met up with my deadly Kiseichu. He had looked so cute, so innocent, and so... so naive.

I could tell when he saw me, he was thinking of something stupid, that little sparkle of amusement shining in his pretty golden eyes. I taunted him, played with him, watched each and every one of his reactions until I couldn’t take it anymore. I’d done the thing I’d wanted to do the very first moment that I saw him, back when he’d first met that bastard Hai.

_ Kumo growled in annoyance. Hai had always been someone he hated, aside from his brother’s Ite and Rekkusu. Of course, he didn’t so much hate Taiyo, but he was definitely someone that was on the list of ‘Kumo’s occasionally disliked people’. _

Let’s see now... where was I? Oh yeah! _ he smirked again and let out a soft chuckle, tilting his head back, his eyes closed,  _ The plan worked too, kissing him and watching how he reacted to such a simple action. Quite clever, I think, considering I was going to try and get him to become mine.

He’d been scared the first time, scared and confused; the second time, there had been hurt in his eyes, added to the fear already there and the third kiss... _ he sighed then and shook his head. “I just don’t get it... maybe Ite’s right. Maybe this chase is pointless, I mean it’s obvious that he doesn’t want me like I... like I want him.” he lowered his head and jumped down from the building closing his eyes as he walked along the street, every scene of him and Ame replaying in his head. “But... then why did he....” he opened his eyes and stared at the sky once more. “Why had he kissed me, that last time? It couldn’t have been because I asked him to, could it?” he questioned and frowned, confused and just a tiny bit hurt. “I think I know now what Ite meant.” Growling, he shook his head and ruffled his hair, “Ite’s stupid advice is getting to my head.” he huffed out, closing his eyes again, thinking for a few moments before finally just deciding to find somewhere to rest for the night. He was about to leave, disappear, but before he could, he felt someone walk into him. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

The pain was sharp and it exploded inside my body, a sharp hiss and a broken groan leaving my lips when I stirred from the dreamless sleep I’d just been in. I stayed still for moments on end, trying to regain my breath, my hands fisting the thin cloth beneath me and I tried moving, only stopping abruptly when the pain became too much. I cracked my eyes open and barely managed to turn my head to the side, a sharp breath leaving me when I did so. I noticed then that I was in a spare room at the café, on the second floor of the building; Kai, Akatsuki, and Odori were nowhere to be found, neither were Hai or Doreiku. However, strangely enough, the blonde from the party, the fourth Spirit was sitting in a chair that sat up against the wall, asleep, looking weary and exhausted from the fight only a few hours earlier. And I most certainly didn’t blame her…

Letting out a dry chuckle, I winced when it burned my throat, and I realized then that I was in desperate need of a drink. Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t even notice that the blonde woke up, but I did manage to hear the noise of confusion leave her after she had. “Hn?” I turned back towards her when she yawned, stretching out, giving her own little wince when she jarred some of her cuts and bruises. Sitting up on my own, I hissed in pain, noting that I was shirtless, my entire torso wrapped tightly in bandages.  _ They… oh, Doreiku must’ve done this… and he… he replaced the bandages on my neck and my head. _ I smiled at the thought, shaking my head lightly when I thought of how Doreiku was kinda like the mother of the group and Hai was the very annoying, bully of a big brother. “Oh! Uh, Ame was it? You’re awake...” she tripped over some of her words and I found that amusing for a moment or two, the smile shifting a bit into a small smirk and I nodded a little, carefully moving so I was sitting comfortably against the headboard of the bed.

“Yeah,” I murmured softly, “so you can go home now.” she shook her head fiercely, though and I frowned, my eyes narrowed now and all traces of amusement left.

“No way! I’m not leaving you here alone.” She argued, standing up with her arms crossed, looking ready to put up a fight if I argued against her. “Not after what just happened to you back there.”

“Look, miss,” I paused, letting out a soft sigh as I realized I didn’t even know who the hell she really was. I’ve been kinda calling her blondie this entire time. She seemed to realize what I was trying to figure out and she almost laughed, smiling at me.

“Banira,” she said softly, “my name is Banira.”

“Okay well, Banira, we barely know each other, so you don’t have to worry about me. Just…” I paused and shrugged my shoulders, hiding the wince from her so she would give up, “go home and get some rest.” Looking uncertain still, I sighed and tried to give her a reassuring smile.

“Will you be alright?” she questioned, hesitant, and I nodded my head in answer.

“I’ll be fine.” It was only after another agonizingly slow minute that she nodded and then she left, finally leaving me alone. Sighing in relief, I got up and got dressed into my café uniform, the shirt just a tiny bit more comfortable against the bandages and my wounded back. Afterwards, I made my way to the doors and soon found myself walking to the train station. “Maybe taking a train ride would help me clear my senses?” I murmured softly to myself. It was only minutes later, maybe fifteen or so minutes from the station, when I recognized where I was and a small smile made it’s way to my face.  _ This place was where I met Kumo for the first time. _ I chuckled.  _ Apparently, it’s also where he stole my first kiss. Stupid vampire-  _ I was stopped in mid-thought when I bumped into someone and I promptly fell onto my back, unbalanced as I was and a sharp hiss of pain left me when I felt the wound on my back collide with the sidewalk. “Fuck!”

“A-ame!?” I heard a painfully familiar voice and my eyes popped wide open, a startled gasp leaving me when I saw Kumo.  _ K-kumo…!? _

I winced slightly as I sat up, brushing my fingers lightly against my back, where the wound was and I let out a shaky breath. “Damn... maybe now wearing this stupid outfit wasn’t such a good idea...” I mumbled before shivering when I felt a hand being wrapped around my lower back, gingerly, before Kumo took my hand and he helped me up. I could feel my face heating up, even as all these other confusing emotions swam around my head and I had no idea how to even begin sorting the thoughts that were racing through my mind.

“I’m sorry,” he began and I looked back up at him, “I had no idea you were going to be out here.” I looked away at this, backing away from him just a step, but it was enough to watch, from the corner of my eyes, as he frowned.  _ Fuck… why is he looking at me like that again…? _

“Uh y-yeah... no, er… me either...” I mumbled and then sighed and turned away from him a little, unable to make up my mind. I wanted to do so many things right then and there: grab him and kiss him; turn back around and punch him; and leave and disappear just as he’d done to me... _ but… he left when I… at least… I thought I… _ “T-thank you…! F-for earlier… I mean…” I finally blurted out and winced when I heard how pathetic it sounded, feeling the heat on my face becoming warmer.

“You already said thank you,” he frowned in confusion and I bit at my lower lip, shaking my head.

“I… I wasn’t saying thank you for that... I meant thanks for still… caring, I guess.” My voice was barely above a whisper and my eyes were closed now, afraid to see what his reaction would be.  _ What if that was all just part of some elaborate joke… a way to still get be to become some sort of slave to him…? I don’t think… I wouldn’t be able to take it if that’s what this all is… _

I tensed when I heard Kumo sigh before I felt his arms, gently and hesitantly, wrap around me in a hug. “I care...” he said, his voice soft and conflicted, “m-maybe not from the beginning… but, I do now. I have cared since… well, I suppose your friends had a little something to do with that…” he added, and I could tell he was just rambling now, afraid and confused, just like me. My eyes snapped wide open and I turned sharply to him, blushing once more when I realized how close we were and I stared at him, frowning a little now, but I couldn’t deny the fact that my heart was soaring and beating so fast I felt like it would explode.  _ Can he… hear… my heart beating…? _ I thought, letting out a shaky breath.

“But why...?” I asked, trying to understand.  _ After all that I’ve done… I hated you right from the start, but then… you confessed you truly wanted me. And when you took Kai and my friends, I felt so… conflicted, so confused and hurt and angry and I didn’t know what to do. _ “All I’ve ever done was fight you, since this all started. All I’ve ever done was… deny… everything that happened and for a while, I thought… I thought that it was just some joke and that I would get over it... But Kumo, that’s so very far from the truth…” I finished in a whispered and he looked at me, surprised, and I almost smiled back when I saw the hint of a smile on his own lips.  _ We’re so close now… _ I thought before shaking the thoughts away, trying to focus. “Why… why do you still want me...?” I questioned, and he chuckled, his smile widening just a fraction.

“Now that, my perfect little kitten, is a simple question.” he purred and I felt my cheeks burning up,  _ Why is it so easy for me to get embarrassed around him…? _ “You’re cute, you’re sweet, you’re kind... and well you care a lot for people around you and will do anything to help them.”

“But...” I lowered my head, sighing a little and it was just so easy to rest my forehead against his shoulder.

“Ame... there is something more, it’s not just a matter of like or want anymore.” I looked up at him when he said this, frowning in confusion, my train of thought freezing in mid-air when I heard this.  _ I don’t understand…? What do you-  _ My thoughts were cut off, my mind going blank and he leaned in, using one hand to tilt my chin up. My eyes widened and I stared at Kumo in shock and surprise and I felt tears spilling down my cheeks. I felt like I was at my final breaking point and Kumo was only just pulling me over the edge.

But I couldn’t think anymore past that and I soon felt my eyes slipping closed as my hands went up to grip at his shoulders, hesitant in my actions.  _ What are we doing…? Why is this… I thought… I just don’t… understand… _ It was then that I felt myself tensing up and I pulled away, letting out a shaky breath, hiccuping a little when I did and I moved a hand over my mouth before using it to wipe at my tears, embarrassed and ashamed. “I-I’m sorry...” I turned around them, but before I could get far, Kumo was reaching out to grab my wrist.

“But Ame...? Wait…!” He pleaded, eyes wide, “What’s wrong? Why are you crying? Please… tell me something… anything…” I lowered my head, clenching my fists and I was tensed up so bad that I even felt my back start to sting once more.  _ The fall… I’ll have to get the wound checked… _ I thought absently, wondering for a moment if the fall caused me to bleed again. I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.

“I’m so sorry Kumo, but this just... can’t work...” I tore my hand from his grasp,  _ Maybe they’re right... Odori and Kai… _ and ran away from him.  _ Maybe I do like him... Maybe I really do… love… Kumo, the vampire I thought that I hated for so long. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Kumo stared after Ame, the little cat running from him with tears spilling from his unique, beautiful golden eyes and down his cheeks. With his hand still in the spot where it once gripped Ames arm, he let out a shaky breath before pulling it back to him, clenching his fists tightly. He stood there for several minutes, frowning, going through his thoughts, one by one, before he finally let a smile slip across his face. _

Maybe... what I thought was wrong... I guess, he really does like me after all, _ he thought and with one final glance to where Ame had been, he disappeared, his heart soaring with his thoughts and the smile only growing wider. _


	14. Chapter 13

_ Kumo grinned to himself, holding up a small bug-like Kiseichu that was used as a video recorder. He set it on the ground and took a deep breath. “Alright then, Maiyo, show me what you managed to gather.” he sighed with a smile as the bug complied with his order and blew out a puff of smoke; it took only a few seconds before images appeared, and Kumo smirked as he watched the video presented to him. _

_ ‘Akatsuki! What the hell was that for!?’ _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

“Sorry Ame,” Akatsuki smirked, shaking her head, “but you looked like you needed some refreshing.” she snickered when Banira and Odori laughed at me. Even Kai joined in with his own little giggle; as I was now soaked, from head to toe, in water.

“I would think you deserve that one from giving us the cold shoulder all weekend.” The blonde huffed, crossing her arms and I glared at them.

“So, Ame... what’s up? What’s been on your mind?” Odori questioned, sitting on the table beside the chair I’d decided to plop down into a few minutes earlier.

“I’m not going to tell you guys...” I said firmly, narrowing my eyes further when I saw Akatsuki go back to the kitchen to no doubt fill up the bucket again. I growled lightly when she returned and I bristled.  _ What is with people and pouring and spraying water on cats!? _

“I think you should reconsider, unless you’d rather be thrown into the lake instead?” Akatsuki asked and I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

“Do what you want, but Hai’s going to be pissed at you if you soak the floors even more...” I muttered and she only shrugged, grinning sharply.  _ Devious little fox… damn her… _

“So?” she chirped, a bit cocky and so very sure of herself, “You can easily clean it up.” Rolling my eyes, I turned my head away from them and huffed out a heavy sigh.

“I’m not telling you anything,” I argued and Odori sighed, shaking her head and I watched from the corner of my eyes as Banira tilted her head, frowning in confusion.

“Well,” she started, looking down in thought, “does it have anything to do with the black haired demon? The uh, one that saved our hides a few days ago?”

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Kumo stared at the screen in confusion. “Black haired demon... she must mean me.” he mumbled and watched some more. _

_ Ame’s eyes had widened and very nearly choked on his breath, shaking his head fiercely. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’ he practically hissed, cheeks red, though his eyes were narrowed, and Kumo frowned. _

_ “Ah, so he wants to forget about everything?” he murmured to himself, sighing softly. _

_ ‘But Ame,” Akatsuki started, crossing her arms after setting the bucket of water down at her feet, “we all know how you feel about him, even Kai knows about the dreams you had about him.’ The fox snickered and Kumo smirked a little when he saw Ame’s expression, looking like the metaphorical deer caught in the headlights. _

_ “Dreams, huh?” _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

“I stopped having ‘dreams’ a while back...” I growled out, making quotations in the air when I mentioned the dreams and Akatsuki rolled her eyes and snickered while Odori smirked at him. Banira though, she sighed and frowned, looking even more confused.  _ I feel sorry for the little leopard… being so new at this, but at least she isn’t laughing at me, like the traitors over here. _

“Then what about that one night, three days ago? You kept calling out his name and you were crying; you kept saying sorry in your sleep.” I stiffened up at this, my breath hitching and I felt my heart speed up.  _ Crying…? Sorry…? I… I don’t… no, I remember… I thought… but that dream… I forgot all about it the moment I woke up from the pain. I just… I didn’t know I talked in my sleep about it… _

“I-I what?” I asked and Odori’s smirk widened when I tried to make up an excuse. “N-no, I… t-that’s impossible… i-it must’ve been a-another name…” I shrank back, unable to believe my ears.  _ I’m not ever going to live this down, am I? _

“Now I wonder whose name you could’ve been calling out if it wasn’t Kumo’s.” she practically purred and tapped her chin in a thinking style, and I diverted my gaze to the floor.

“I... I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I tried to deny, shaking my head again and I stood up, wanting desperately to go for a walk. Though my wound wasn’t yet fully healed, it hurt less and I was able to go around without wincing every time my shirt caught on the bandages around my chest. Banira managed to grab my arm though, before I could get very far and I snapped my head back towards her before looking away again when she looked at me with those sad, worried blue eyes.

“Ame, we worry about you, please... just tell us what’s wrong.” she insisted and I closed my eyes tightly as I clenched my fists, relaxing them after a few seconds.

“I… I don’t want to burden you guys with my problems...” I mumbled and frowned, shaking my head again as I tried to slip my hand from Banira’s surprisingly strong grip. My eyes snapped back open when Odori hugged me and I looked at her, confused and uncertain, and I had no idea what to do.  _ Why… why is she hugging me…? _ Even my thoughts barely came out as s squeak.

“Ame, you aren’t doing anything that will ever burden us. You’re our friend and we care about you.” she cooed with a soft smile and I let out another soft sigh before nodding and I sat on the table, this time, playing with my hands.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Kumo sat up fully, staring at Ame and his friends. He watched as Ame reluctantly nodded and the kitten sat on the table, playing with his hands. The vampire had managed to learn from his little pet Kiseichu that it was one of his many nervous habits. _

_ ‘Well um... I think... the truth is… I really do like him... Kumo, I mean.’ Ame said, soft and quiet, but it was loud enough that the others heard and Odori clapped her hands together and grinned while Akatsuki smirked and Banira smiled. _

_ ‘I knew it!’ Odori barked, excited and giddy and Ame blushed a bright red, glaring pathetically at the human wolf. Kai snickered though and judging by the glare turning on the other wolf, he’d said something that the cat had clearly not liked. _

_ Kumo’s eyes widened, though, at hearing this and he blinked a few times. “And to think I’d ever actually hear him say that. I mean, after all, he did leave me behind a few days ago... He ran off without saying another word but sorry.” _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

“But...” I looked at Odori once more with sadness in my eyes and a heavy heart, “a few nights ago... that night you said I was having that dream....” I looked at Banira when I said this and she frowned, looking uncertain, “I met up with him... near the place where I first met him and… I… we… we talked… but…” I trailed off and then winced when Odori interrupted me.

“You kissed, didn’t you!?” Odori questioned and I ducked my head, closing my eyes tightly.

“Odori, please...” I pleaded, grimacing at the thought of the others’ reactions as well.

“Sorry, go on.”

I sighed and shook my head, still looking down at my hands, “Anyway, I ran into him when I was looking for some peace and quiet to think... and when I had, he helped me up and we started a small mini awkward conversation before he uh... hugged me and after that I guess he kind of kissed me... but I… I took off after that.” I whispered and I heard a small noise from Odori and Banira, while Akatsuki made a noise that was similar to a scoff.

“Oh Ame...” she said softly and I looked up a little, trying to smile.

“Even if he does like me, and I do like him back... things just can’t work between us... He’s a demon; I’m a human... he’s the villain and I’m one of the heroes.” Sighing again, I looked down before sliding off the table.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ ‘It just isn’t right.’ Ame finished and Kumo frowned, frozen in his spot on the floor.  _ That’s… is he… serious…?

_ “That’s what he meant by ‘sorry’!?” he exclaimed and closed his eyes tightly, running his hands through his hair in frustration as the video shut off and the Kiseichu made a small trill in question, turning to its master. “Damn it Ame... why does your logic have to be so complicated...?” he groaned, puffing out a heavy sigh as he stood up, addressing the Kiseichu, “Get what you can, make sure to follow him everywhere, I want to know more about this little situation and what he has to say about it.” _

_ The bug nodded and disappeared into thin air, off to follow its master’s pet. _

_ Kumo sighed again and then smiled, looking up at the ceiling. “Don’t worry Ame... things will be right soon enough, after we fix our home.” _

_ “That won’t happen without the Kuzui, which is what Ame has,” Ite appeared in front of Kumo and his younger brother took a step back, eyes narrowed as he growled at the blonde. _

_ “Enough of that already! We can find some stupid Kuzui near the Onyx fields! Won’t that be enough!?” he tried to argue against it, hands clenched tightly when Ite only shook his head. _

_ “No Kumo, we’ve been over this already. In order to restore our home, we need Ame to do it; he has enough Kuzui to revive our dying planet to what it once was, don’t you understand?” the dragon crossed his arms, his own eyes narrowed when he watched his brother shake his head sharply in return. _

_ “But Ite, you know that if we do that, use the Kuzui, then it’ll disappear completely! Kuzui is what makes up most of the damned gemstone and that gemstone is what makes up Ame’s spirit! It’ll kill him!” Kumo snapped and the blonde frowned, sadness in his eyes.  _ He finally understands now… _ Ite thought, burdened by this.  _ If only he wasn’t in love with the one Spirit we need to revive our home.

_ “Kumo...” _

_ “No! I won’t let you hurt him.” he seethed, taking a sharp step back away from his older brother. “You may be the oldest of us all, but you will not tell me what to do, and you won’t take my little kitten away from me! I won’t let you!” He shook his head when tears began forming in his eyes, worked up over this, and he tried blinking them away. He wouldn’t show weakness in front of Ite. Not now, not ever. _

_ “Kumo... sooner or later, you will need to start thinking of your own home, your family and your friends, as well as our people.” Ite’s voice was deep and stern, but Kumo ignored the hidden order. “We need that Kuzui, and Ame is our only ticket to finishing this mission, whether you like it or not.” _

_ “Yeah, by sacrificing himself to help his enemies!” he sneered and took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. “Go fuck yourself Ite and leave me and my Ame the hell alone.” he finally spat before disappearing, leaving his brother behind, shocked and surprised and just a tiny bit hurt.  _ He would choose that cat over his people… over us…? _ Ite scowled then, fangs bared and he glared at the empty space before him.  _ Picking a fight with us is one thing, but taking my brother from me is another. _ With a smirk, he turned away,  _ Well, you know what they say: curiosity always kills the cat.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

It was only an hour or so later when I made my way out of the café, coming up with the quick excuse that I didn’t feel so hot. In truth, though, I wanted to get away from them so I could think allow myself to think straight without them crowding around me, demanding what was going on inside my head.  _ Damn it, why did I tell them that? _ I thought to myself, sighing for the millionth time that day and I deflated, raising a hand to my head, the dull ache that has been there since this morning only growing. Honestly, I just wanted to take a nap.

Walking for ten minutes, I found myself back at the lake, farther away from the café than I normally go, closer to the forest, though. Letting out a soft breath, I rested my shoulder gently against one of trees, careful of my back. I, thankfully, got a few moments of peace and quiet, managing to sort through some of my thoughts until I was interrupted by a soft voice, and I stiffened up, eyes closing tightly.

“Ame, we need to talk.” Kumo said and I made a move to grab my gem from my pants pocket, my jacket having been left back at the café. “Wait, please... don’t.” The words then were quick and sharp, panicked almost and I paused, letting out a shaky breath and I gripped my gem tighter in my hand.

“Give me three good reasons,” I started, soft but harsh, my voice quivering a little, “why I shouldn’t take out this gem and kick your ass right here and right now.”

“Fine. One, because I just want to talk, not fight. Two, I know for a fact now that you like me back and that you don’t want to fight. And three, because what I have to say is really important.” he answered, his voice steady and deep, a hint of uneasiness in his tone.

“That only counts as two,” I tried to growl, but it got stuck in my throat, “the second reason is an opinion, not a fact. I don’t like you… Kumo…” I lied, shakily, but I still got it through.

“You do, you kissed me back, remember?” I could practically hear the smirk in his voice, but my retort died on my tongue when I heard what he said next, “and I kind of, sort of sent a bug to follow you and I might’ve gotten the whole dream conversation on camera...” he added and I immediately turned around, sharply, eyes snapping wide open

“Y-you what!?” I snapped, unsure if I should be feeling even more embarrassed or if I should be feeling upset. I went mostly with being upset, crossing my arms and glaring at him now.  _ He’s  _ spying _ on me now!? _

“Yes, I sent a small bug to eavesdrop on you,” he sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck and I shook my head in disbelief.

“How much exactly did you hear?” I questioned, uncertain and just a bti curious.

“Everything starting with Akatsuki dumping water on you,” he chuckled at that and I stuck my tongue out, remembering that my hair still hadn’t quite yet dried from that, “and ending with you explaining to your friends why we can’t be together.” he finished in a murmur and I turned my head away, feeling my cheeks heating up in a blush, but I could only focus on the heaviness in my heart. Kumo sounded so defeated just then, like he didn’t understand… like he was ready to give it all up.

“So pretty much everything...” I mumbled, looking down at the ground. “But if you heard that, then why are you here? You know that I want nothing to do with you, don’t you?” Looking back up at him, I finally put away my gemstone.

“When will you learn that I don’t give up so easily, not even for a petty reason like that? I mean come on; don’t most love stories on your planet have an ending where the villain and the hero are in love?” He crossed his arms, eyes narrowed and I scowled in answer, hissing at him.

“But that’s the problem!” I shouted. “Every love story I’ve read has a girl and a boy together. Not this... no story I’ve ever read has a happy ending where the male hero falls in love with the bad-boy villain. It isn’t right in the author’s minds, so why should it be right in real life?!” I huffed and turned my head away once more, tense with bitter emotion and ready to snap at any given moment, for a moment Kumo seemed taken aback by what I said, but that didn’t last very long.

“Is that really what this is? You’re worried because a dumb fairy tale doesn’t show a boy and another boy kissing; because they don’t show their little happy ending? Well here, let me change that little fact for you,” he said, eyes narrowed and he started walking towards me. I took a step back, away from him when he did and he paused for a moment, hurt swirling in his eyes and I didn’t know what to do. “Fairy-tales are only made up... here in the real world, my little kitten, we make our own story, we tell our own ending!” He tried reasoning with me and I shook my head, closing my eyes tightly, trembling.  _ This isn’t happening… he’s not here… I’m not about to… I just can’t do this… _

“Then how about this for an ending,” I choked out, clearing my throat the best I could, “the cat and the vampire don’t ever get together because the cat just wants to live a normal life without being interfered by stupid demons who are trying to take away everything that he… that  _ I _ once knew.” Tearing up, I looked back up at him, gauging his reaction, but I could barely hold his gaze for more than a few seconds. “Kumo... this is the real world, and in the real world... there are no happy endings, because nothing ever goes our way.” I whispered and frowned deeply as I thought about my mysterious past. “My whole life has been based off of nothing but nightmares and my own pathetic fears and terrors. I’ve never had a single good thing come to me except for meeting my friends...”

Kumo sighed and lowered his head, “You met me...” he mumbled and I froze for only a second, before blinking away my tears and I shook my head.

“You tried to kill me, Kumo, you hurt me and my friends, and you  _ bit  _ me. You and your brothers have been going after us non-stop and damn it, we all have the marks to prove it!” I snapped, trying to list off all of the bad things that have happened since meeting the vampire.

But Kumo was there to retaliate everything just as quickly, “I let your friends go and promised to never bother you again. I even kept that promise until Rekkusu decided to tear you apart and I  _ stopped  _ him, Ame. I saved you and I saved your friends. Doesn’t that count for anything?” Shaking his head, he took another step towards me and he looked hopeful when I stayed where I was, but I only looked away, deflating.

“Kumo...” I whispered, “I’m sorry... but nothing good will ever come if this keeps up. And besides Akatsuki and Odori told me why you needed me, why you’ve been trying to come after me these past few months. You need me to revive your planet. But I… I have news for you,” I breathed out, looking up once more, my expression hardened and I felt my chest tighten, “I won’t ever just give myself up to you demons, just because you want to save your precious home... not when I have my own home here, not when my friends need me...” I turned away then, towards the park, my mind set on going back to the dorms.

“But Ame-” I cut him off, before he could even start, tears crawling down my cheeks now and I closed my eyes tightly.

“N-no, Kumo… The n-next time that you and I s-see each other... I... I-I won’t hesitate to use m-my blade on you.” I stuttered out and tried my best to keep from running away, but in the end, I couldn’t even get three feet before taking off, knowing that I’d already lost.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Kumo stared at Ame and frowned. “No... This will not end like this.” he said to himself. “Ame will see that everything will be fine. I promise to protect you from my brothers with whatever it takes, even if you don’t want me to.” _

_ But before he could move, he became froze to the spot,“Hello, brother…” eyes wide with fear and pain swirling in them. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

“Damn it!” I cursed to myself, wiping away my tears furiously until I could feel my face start to hurt. “Why does he always make me feel so… weak…?” I ended the question in a pathetic whisper and leaned against a nearby tree, sliding against it and onto the ground, trying to regain what was left of my control. The chaos that was my emotions was running rampant inside me and I could barely even manage to sort through it all and tell what was what.

Taking a few moments to calm my racing heart and to try and stop crying, I didn’t even hear footsteps as they neared me, but I did hear the voice that followed them.

“Hey,” snapping my head up, I let out a sharp gasp, seeing a girl, maybe a year older than I was, staring at me with soft, concerned dark green, blue tinted eyes, “are you alright?” Her voice was tinged with worry and I could tell there was an underlying Australian accent that bled into it. It took me a moment to respond, instinctively looking her over; she had short brown hair, and I noticed that the tips of it were a vivid dark green that almost matched her eye color. She was also wearing the school uniform that belonged to Nishi’s rival high school, just on the other side of town.

Sniffing and nodding slightly, I watched her smile softly at me, as if trying to coax a wounded animal from it’s hiding spot, and she held her hand out.

“My name is Miryoku,” she murmured, adding with a small chuckle, “you can call me Miru though, if you want.” Taking her hand, I offered a small smile back and she pulled me up and away from the tree, “What’s your name?”

“Um, I’m Ame...”

“Ame huh? I like it,” she chuckled again and brushed a patch of dirt from the bandages on my back. I blushed but didn’t comment on the action, wasn’t really able to, anyway, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” she hummed then with a grin, looking at me now, and she had this kind look about her eyes. “So, what’re you doing around this area?”

“I… I don’t know,” I shrugged a little and she made a small noise in thought, the smile still on her face.

“Oh boy, are you having some girl troubles?” she questioned, tilting her head to the side a little and my eyes widened almost immediately, my cheeks heating up once more.

“W-what!? No!” I waved my hands in front of my face and shook my head, grimacing.  _ Why would she even think that!? What about me says anything about me having any problems with girls? _

“Oh I know!” she suddenly brightened up, snapping her fingers and her grin widened, her eyes positively sparkling. “You’re having troubles with a boy! Aren’t you!?” she laughed then and grabbed my hand before I could even deny or agree with a word she was saying. “Come on, I know the perfect way to cheer you up!” Dragging me off to the shopping district, I could only follow after her, dazed and confused, but admittedly, I was just a tiny bit happy that I hadn’t gotten a chance to explain.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

“Oh I see... so it really was boy troubles then, huh?” Miryoku hummed in question, walking beside me now as we walked through the mall. Nodding my head, I sighed and rubbed at the back of my neck, frowning a little when I felt the fabric of my collar.  _ I’m surprised… Kumo didn’t mention the collar… _ I deflated a little, looking down in thought.  _ Maybe he really wasn’t the one who gave it to me. _

“Yeah... I try to reason with him... but he still wants to try to make things work with me.” I mumbled, shaking my head and I looked up at her, wondering what was going through her mind. She was currently looking around, glancing at each store and restaurant we passed by.

“Well, I think...” she frowned and then perked up, smiling, “Ah! Here we are!” She grabbed my hand once more and we walked over to a small food shop in between a stuffed toy store and a shoe store. Leading the way inside, she walked over to a small booth near the front of the shop and we sat down across from each other.

“I don’t know what to do Miru...” Laying my head on the table, I stared out of the window, watching as people of all ages walked by, each looking happy and content. The exact opposite of what I felt, to be sure.

“Hey, little Ame,” she chirped, “everything will be alright.”

“Oh yeah, how so?”

“I think you should give him a chance.” Smiling, she nodded her head and shrugged her shoulders a little, “I mean, it’s the best shot you have for the both of you. After all, you seem to like the bloke a lot!” I looked down and blushed a little, just a tiny bit nervous now.

“W-well, yeah, but...” I sighed then and laid my head down on my arms now, “I just don’t think it will work out.” I wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but the puzzled look sent in my direction spoke volumes about a lot of whatever it was and I frowned back, unable to help it.

“But how do you know if you don’t try?” she questioned and I looked down in thought, even as she continued, a smile in her voice. “In every story I’ve read, the main hero and the main villain have always fallen in love and gotten with each other, no matter what their age or their gender.” she smiled softly and I looked at her, hope filling my tear glazed eyes. But I could also feel disbelief bubbling inside me.

“What stories have you been reading…?” I mumbled, unable to help the bitter tone. I’ve never found a story like that, not once. It was always just a guy and a girl, nothing else.

She snickered at this and paused, when a waitress came to our table. “Oh hi Masa! Can I just get the usual?” she asked and the woman nodded, a gentle smile on her face.

“Of course my little feathered dreamer,” Miryoku blushed at this, a little sheepish grin on her face and I couldn’t help the little chuckle that bubbled up from my throat. Miru turned back to me with a sharper grin and shrugged.

“That was Masa, she’s like my caretaker, since my mom’s overseas in America. Which is what I was about to say,” she hummed, tilting her head, “I get all my books from her. She finds all these different, fascinating tales and sends them to me by mail. I always read everything and I’ve even found quite a few that have lovey dovey scenes with two boys!” she snickered when I blushed and I looked away, before looking back at her.

“Really?” I asked and she nodded, smiling in thanks when Masa returned with a large bowl of peppered fries that had a lot of red sauce on them. I blinked, a little startled, before frowning.

“Come on, try one. It’s Masa’s speciality and her sauce is incredible! If you like spicy things like that, anyway,” she smirked and I shrugged a little, hesitating before reaching out and I grabbed one, grimacing when I ate it before smiling, laughing. “See? Good, aren’t they?” I nodded and took another as she plopped one into her own mouth. “Anyway, the answer to your question is a yes. So, my advice: go back to see him and tell him how you really feel, see where the pages take you next.” she chuckled and I grinned back at her, hope alighting within me. _ Tell him… how I really feel… and see where the pages take us next…? Brilliant! I can do that! I will do that! _

“Thank you Miru!” I said excitedly, standing up from the table and I leaned over, hugging her tightly as she laughed and hugged back. “I promise I’ll do just that! And maybe, when I can, I’ll… come around and we can talk about it?”

“Yeah, I’d like that, Ame,” she said with a light smirk and I only grinned a little bit wider, taking off out of the shop after and I made my way back out onto the streets, out of the mall.  _ Maybe what she said is, true... maybe, things will really work out like in the stories? _ I thought with hope, fierceness, and a little bit of love.  _ And just maybe… I can find my own happy ending, _ I smirked then, bubbling with determination,  _ but I’ll do it my way: kitten style. _


	15. Chapter 14

It took me ten minutes to get back to the park again, something that surprised me, but I tried not to think on it. I was determined to find Kumo, but I knew that there was almost no chance that he’d still be here. I had stayed with Miryoku, talking, for about a half an hour, and when I’d left the park… even I was feeling heartbroken so maybe… maybe he took my words to heart?

I shook my head, feeling a small pang to my heart at that.  _ I… I hope he didn’t… I hope he… hasn’t given up… _ I whispered to myself in my head before slowing to a stop and I looked around, the trees surrounding me.  _ Please… still be here… _ “Kumo!” I called out, cupping my hands around my mouth,before waiting a few moments and I frowned. “A-are you here?”  _ M-maybe I was right… maybe he already left… _ “I… I hope he’s not mad… because of what I said...” I whispered with a shake of my head once more looked around, going around in several circles until I had to stop, for fear I would get dizzy and that wouldn’t help me out at all in this situation.  _ Where is he- _

“Hey...” it was then, my thoughts cutting off, that I heard a very familiar, but almost very dark voice and my breath hitched, my eyes wide, “little kitten.” I wanted to smile, to turn around and see him and run into his arms, but I was frozen with fear, his voice sounding so different, so… feral and I couldn’t help but think that something bad happened, or that… perhaps he really did take my words to heart.

Shivering though, I reached for my gem, just in case, and I turned around, slowly, dreading what I would see and I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. He was surrounded with a dark red, almost black, aura and his eyes were clouded with hidden darkness, a feral grin upon his face and his canines glinted beneath the fading sunlight, despite the trees surrounding us. “K-Kumo…?” I choked out and barely kept myself from stepping back when he began walking towards me.

“I was wondering... when you were going to come back,” he purred and I trembled with the way his voice carried itself, wrapping around me and freezing my blood cold.

“Kumo... a-are you… is everything… okay?” I questioned, tripping over my words and he chuckled, shaking his head before tilting it up, the sight of his fangs unnerving me. I almost felt, that if I let him get too close, he’d bite me again.

“Yes, of course,” he purred again, “why wouldn’t it be?” he asked and I finally couldn’t take it, backing away from him with a sharp shake of my head. He paused in his steps, eyes narrowing and his smirk turned to a frown, sharp and angry and I didn’t like that it sent everyone of my nerves in a frenzy of panicked emotion.  _ This isn’t right… something’s wrong… _

“But...” I tried to get out, “you… you seem… different.” I whispered and I watched as he closed his eyes for only a single heartbeat before opening them and smirking at me again.

“You know,” he started walking towards me again, but I didn’t have the heart to back away, the grip on my gemstone tightening.  _ Would I really have to use it…? I know I said I would but… does this mean… I really have to…? _ “I’ve done quite a bit of thinking and I’ve realized something that you need to know.” he said and I took in a sharp breath, letting it out slowly.

“W-what...?” The dark aura was overwhelming and I could barely keep track of my thoughts, let alone keep them from crashing.

He grinned then, sharp and easy, and snatched his hand out to grab my wrist, causing me to drop the gem and I hissed slightly, eyes narrowed before they widened. “I want you Ame,” he said, low and deep, “and nothing, not even what you say, will change what I think about this, about you,” he paused and the smirk once more returned as he leaned in closer to my ear, “about us.” he finished and I trembled, shivering when I heard his tone, so sincere but so cold... like it was him, but not him at the same time.

“K-Kumo... w-why are you acting like this...? This isn’t... isn’t like you.” The grip on my wrist was almost painful and I let out a startled cry when he pushed me back against the tree and I closed my eyes tightly after I saw the feral smirk appear once more.

“Oh, but isn’t it?” he practically purred, nipping at my ear and I whimpered, jerking myself away. “Ame, come with me... we can both live happily somewhere else, where you don’t have to fight... where you aren’t going to be used.”

“Kumo...” I gathered my strength to try and push him off of me, “get off.”

“Why should I? Don’t you want this?” he asked me, taking a hold of my chin and forcing me to open my eyes, looking right into them as if he were staring into my soul.  _ Yes… of course… but I…  _ I frowned deeply, debating in my head something that should’ve been a simple answer.

“W-well... yeah...” I finally mumbled, but Kumo interrupted me, trapping my wrists and holding them above my head.

“Then what’s the matter?” he growled and I flinched at the sound, trembling once more.

“B-but...” I looked down before closing my eyes again and I whimpered at the applied pressure to my wrists, cracking one eye open as I let out a shaky breath. “Kumo... this isn’t right, this… this isn’t y-you...” I whispered, trying my best to look into his eyes and I felt myself tear up. In his eyes I saw things that I’d only ever seen a few times before, but each never with the others. I saw Darkness, something that showed in his eyes back at the cave, with Kai and my friends; Lust, what I saw just before he bit me; and Anger, what swirled in his eyes when I fought with him just hours after he had bitten me.

“What the  _ fuck  _ do you mean,  _ not me _ ?” His voice was loud when he spat at me and I flinched back, hissing when my head hit against the bark.

“Y-you... would never do this to me...” I mumbled and winced as he tightened his grip and gritted his teeth, his lips curling up into a snarl.

“You say this isn’t me, that I would never do this, but do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for this?” He was bristling now, fury and dark pleasure swirling in his eyes and I let out a little whine. My back hurt again, the bark sharp against my wound and I spots danced in my vision as I tried to move away, to stop the pain, but Kumo only pushed me back into the tree. _ N-no… stop… i-it hurts too much, damn it… _ I pleaded in my head, taking a few moments to make sure I could voice it out loud.

“Kumo, p-please... y-you’re hurting me...” I felt my tears escape and I closed my eyes as I felt him remove a hand from one of my wrists, making it so he was holding them both with only one of his own and I flinched when he touched my cheek, wiping away the tears and for a moment, I thought that he was just playing a trick on me… but there was no tenderness in the touch. Only promise of more pain, even as I heard him lean in, closer to my ear and he spoke, his words whispered and harsh.

“I will show you the meaning of hurt, my little pet.” He kissed me, rough and I couldn’t do anything to get away as he bit at my lip, drawing blood and he smirked into the kiss.  _ Now I know.... this isn’t Kumo... this isn’t the vampire I fell in love with... _

I whimpered when he moved his lips from mine to my neck, which was one hundred percent vulnerable to anything, especially now that the bandages were gone from it. I felt a shiver run through my body as his lips brushed over the mark that he left a while back and he let out a little chuckle, nipping and kissing at the spot and my knees buckled underneath me, a little embarrassing mewl escaping.

I was expecting it, I  _ knew _ it was coming… but even still, I gasped and hissed in pain, when he bit me, and I felt as his teeth sank into my neck this time. There was no tiny pinch, no phantom pain… this was real, I was conscious… and he was actually biting me. My legs gave out from beneath me, but Kumo managed to catch me, putting one of his knees between my legs and he moved his free hand to my waist, gripping it tightly.  _ Kumo... _ I struggled to stay conscious, my vision swimming and I gripped tightly at his shoulders, anything to stay grounded. Finally deciding to do something, I tried taking off one of my shoes without him noticing and I gripping onto him tighter, trying to reach for my gemstone with my feet.  _ I… I have to… it’s my only hope now… _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Akatsuki’s ears twitched, her tail lazily swinging back and forth, gripping her bow tightly as she looked around at her friends. Odori and Banira were both in their Spirit form as well, facing off against each, training for the next possible battle against the next pathetic excuse for a demon that tries to attack them. _

_ “Ready Odori?” Banira questioned, holding out her hands, her Spirit Weapon’s name on the tip of her tongue. Her tail flicked out from side to side and she nearly purred when Odori nodded, grinning wide. The wolf already had her own weapon out, like Akatsuki, but the leopard didn’t seem to mind. _

_ “You bet!” Odori barked, dashing towards Banira, holding out her whip to the side, before she even had a chance to react. The leopard’s eyes widened and she quickly called out for her Spirit Weapons. _

_ “Tempest Fans!” she quickly maneuvered her weapons around, when they materialized in her hands, and she continued to repeatedly knock Odori’s whip away from her, but the wolf was relentless in her advance, pushing Banira back every few seconds and wearing her out without even breaking a sweat. _

_ “Come on Banira, you can do better than that.” Akatsuki laughed at her, grinning wide as she watched Odori continue her attacks, putting seemingly more speed into everyone. It seemed almost impossible for the leopard to counter. _

_ “Don’t shout at me, damn it! I’m doing the best I can!” Banira growled harshly and ducked down and away to avoid another attack from the wolf. Jumping back and away then, she jumped into the air, twisting her fans around her and she spun around sharply. “Blizzard Winds!” Landing back onto the ground, she watched the small ice storm she’d created, the sharp snowflakes hitting the ground before disappearing completely. _

_ Odori jumped back and growled as she rose up her hands to block what remained of the attack, some of the shards dangerously close to her. “Not fair Banira!” she barked out and the leopard purred in amusement, her tail flicking back and forth with her emotions. _

_ “You gave me no other choice, Odori.” she said, her ears twitching a tiny bit as she watched her friend change back from her Spirit form, her whip disappearing with the change. _

_ Akatsuki only took a split second to decide what to do, jumping down from her post on the fence, and she held up her bow, summoning an arrow without a word. She placed it in its rightful place before releasing it towards the unsuspecting leopard, catching her off guard and knocking her back onto the ground. “Hah! You should always be on your guard when fighting more than one opponent little leopard.” she chirped, letting her weapon disappear into thin air when Banira changed back, having already lost her weapons when she fell. _

_ “Tch, how was I supposed to know I was fighting you too?!” Banira growled and Akatsuki snickered, shaking her head. _

_ “Anyway,” Odori broke the silence that took place after that, “where’s Ame, isn’t he supposed to be here by now? It’s not like him to miss our daily training.” she said and Akatsuki shrugged, frowning. _

_ “He probably just needs time to cool off, after what happened earlier.” She hummed and Banira rolled her eyes, standing up and brushing the dirt off of her pants. _

_ “‘What happened earlier’ was you pouring water on him, which, by the way, is your entire fault. So don’t even think about dragging us into whatever excuse is inside your head.” She huffed and Akatsuki stuck her tongue out before freezing up, eyes wide. _

_ “So  _ now _ you finally notice that the cat’s missing? Heh, you three sure are slow.” the three girls each turned around, facing towards the lake now, and they saw Ite floating just above the ground, smirking in mild amusement and mild triumph. Akatsuki was the first one to do anything, summoning back her bow, just in case she absolutely needed it; but the other two had no doubt she’d use it even if she didn’t. _

_ “Oh what do you want now Ite?” Akatsuki snarled, the grip on her bow impossibly tight as Ite shook his head, letting out a dramatic sigh. _

_ “Oh I don’t want anything,” he started, a smirk on his face now, “but I’m sure you girls would all love to know where your little pet cat is, wouldn’t you?” This immediately brought out a reaction as Akatsuki bristled, Odori growled, and Banira hissed at him. _

_ “What did you do with him?!” The wolf barked viciously, her gem back in her hand and she wanted so bad to change. But that would only cause more trouble, and besides, to her, it seemed that if Ite tried anything, Akatsuki would likely taking his head off with an arrow. _

_ “I didn’t do anything to him, but by now, I’m sure Kumo might have.” he said and Akatsuki narrowed her eyes. _

_ “Alright then,” she growled, “ what have you done to Kumo?” _

_ “Who says I did anything to my darling little baby brother?” The dragon purred innocently and Odori scoffed, crossing her arms tightly as Banira stepped up to the plate. _

_ “We know that Kumo would never hurt Ame unless you’ve done something to him.” The leopard spat at him and Odori nodded in agreement, the fox still glaring darkly at the demon before them. _

_ “Where are they...?!” The bark was sharp and quick, an underlying threat hidden within the wolf’s tone. _

_ “You needn’t worry about them,” the demon said, smirking once more, and Akatsuki growled harsher. _

_ “Damn it Ite! That’s the one thing we need to do right now,” she bit out, taking a step forward, summoning an arrow in her free hand, “we know what you plan to do with Ame! We’re not about to let you destroy him for your own selfish needs!” Ite laughed, the sound dark and ruthless, and his eyes flashed with something heavy and frightening, when she said this.  _ My home is dying and you call me selfish!? How dare you, _ Ite seethed,  _ but given time, you will see… you’ll all see, just what our home means to us, to me.

_ “Oh?” he mocked her, mocked them, “But I thought you said that Kumo would  _ never _ let us harm his precious little kitten for such a…  _ selfish _ reason…” the look on his face was innocent and questioning, both clearly faked, but the tone behind his words was threatening and devious. Enough that it had all three on edge, including Akatsuki. _

_ “Ite, I swear, if you do anything to hurt Ame or...” she let out a harsh breath here, shaking her head, “and I can’t  _ believe _ I’m saying this...” she grumbled, but begrudgingly continued, “or Kumo, I’ll shoot you so fast you won’t even know what hit you until the arrow has already disappeared!” _

_ “You better believe that,” Odori snickered, for once not bothered by Akatsuki’s quick-witted threats, and Banira only shook her head, wrinkling up her nose. _

_ “We won’t let you hurt either of them nor will we let you get near us.” she said, regardless, and Ite sighed, rolling his eyes, giving up the act now. _

_ “Oh pity, well, you best tell that to Kumo then.” he said and held his hand out, a small clear glowing sphere appearing, floating just inches above the palm of his hand. It was only seconds after that images began appearing inside the sphere and Akatsuki and Odori were taken aback when they saw Kumo and Ame, centered inside the sphere. Banira could only stare wide-eyed, fearful, even as the fox spoke up. _

_ “Ame!” she shouted, eyes wide before they narrowed and she growled, low and harsh in her throat. “That bastard, what does he think he’s doing with him!?” _

_ “I’ve read about this... vampires tend to mark their victims in order to tell others that that person or animal belongs to them and only them.” Odori said and Banira nodded slowly, trembling. She didn’t understand though, because Ame had spoken so… lovingly about Kumo, he said he liked the vampire, maybe even loved him. Why would Kumo go and… and do this…? _

_ “But why would Kumo do this... he told us that he wouldn’t ever hurt Ame!” Banira said, looking around at her friends before looking up at Ite, eyes still wide, but she knew that when everything fully registered, she’d be just as mad as Akatsuki and Odori were. “What exactly did you do to Kumo?!” _

_ “I did what I should’ve done a while back. Once he’s satisfied with his prey, he won’t want anything more to do with him and then we’ll be free to take him and fix our home.” he said, clenching his fist and crushing the sphere in his hands, dust flowing from it before disappearing into thin air. Their reactions were immediate as Banira and Odori changed once more into their Spirit forms, glaring darkly at the dragon, and Akatsuki steadied the arrow with her bow, pointing it straight at the demon. _

_ “You bastard!” she shouted, pulling the bowstring taut and she had tears in her eyes, “We won’t let you take him from his home! From us, damn it!” _

_ With a shake of her head, she released the arrow- “Just try to stop me.” But before it could hit it’s mark, Ite disappeared with a sharp smirk and narrowed eyes. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

I skidded back and away, the dirt beneath my feet bunching up, the ground tearing underneath me, panting heavily, weakened dangerously as I was. The blood that had ran down my neck only minutes before had dried, but I had several bruises and cuts now from fighting Kumo. My tail flicked out behind me, faltering every so often and my ears were laid back against my head as I tried to hold my blade straight out, towards him, but I could barely gather enough strength to do so, my arms trembling and the blade with them.

“E-enough Kumo, I... I can’t let this go on any longer.” I said, shaking my head as I tried to get rid of the nausea and the forming headache. He scowled at me, holding his blade out, his fangs bared for all to see and I let out a shaky breath when he tried taking a step towards me. “D-don’t!”

“Ame, why are you doing this!?” he growled out, like he was truly and so very confused. “Why are you fighting me?! Isn’t this what you wanted for so long...?” I deflated at this, letting out another sigh and I glanced away, lowering my eyes to the ground.

“Not like this.” I whispered, finally, after seconds of silence and he only made a noise of frustration and anger in answer.

“Listen to yourself! You’re blind to what you really want,” he seethed, “all because you think that I’m  _ different _ !”

And I chuckled, mostly weary, and a little in disbelieving amusement.  _ He doesn’t get it… _ “That’s just it, Kumo.” I said, looking back up as I took a shaky step forward and his eyes narrowed, taking his own step backwards. “It’s not because you’re different, it’s because you aren’t you. You aren’t my Kumo, not anymore.” I murmured, my ears twitching and my tail curled around my leg, a ghost of a smile on my face before it turned back into a frown, the desperation and exhaustion taking over the hope and amusement.

For a small split-second though, I thought I saw something flicker in his eyes: a single emotion, but... it was gone before I could tell what it was, just as quick as it had come. Finally, the pain got to be too much and I let my blade disappear as I fell to the ground onto one knee. “Damn it...” I growled and wiped my forehead, noting that it was covered in sweat, the bandages having been lost only minutes before in the heat of the battle.

“But why Ame, why are you doing this?” It was there, in that question, that I heard it, the familiar curiosity, but it was hidden beneath the dark tone of his voice.

Closing my eyes for a few seconds, I stood up slowly and shakily, a smile on my face.  _ I think… I know the answer to that now… the reason why… _ “I… it’s because...” my voice trembled, but I pushed onward, looking up and straight into his own eyes, “because I love you too much to let you do this.” And for a few heartbeats, I thought it’d been the exact wrong thing to say, as his lips pulled back into a snarl and his eyes narrowed dangerously.

“That’s your answer? That’s why?!” he snapped, anger and venom dripping from his words. “That doesn’t even make any sense!” I lowered my head at this and shook it, frowning once more.

“It may not make sense to you now, but.... but it makes more than enough sense to me.” I said to him, my voice barely above a whisper, and I glanced up only to see the anger grow fiercer.  _ That’s right, prove to me that you really aren’t my Kumo... go ahead and just… _ I thought, closing my eyes and I trembled again.  _ I don’t think… my head hurts and my body is sore. I feel like… I’m drowning and no one can save me… _

“Damn it! I’m not playing these games anymore Ame,” he hissed and I heard the sounds of footsteps and I couldn’t help the smirk on my face then, as he advanced towards me.

“Don’t you remember Kumo...?” I questioned, speaking still in a soft voice, “You promised me something; don’t you remember what it was?”

“I’ve never promised you anything.” he growled out and I shook my head sharply at this before looking back up at him.  _ Somewhere… he knows… he remembers… I just need to remind him. I need to remind him of who he is… of what he’s done. _

“You promised that you would never hurt me again… That no matter what, you would always protect me!” My voice broke here, but I barely even noticed, not when another voice rang out through the clearing.

“Ame! Get away from him!” I let out a choked noise and turned my head sharply, eyes wide, hearing the familiar voice. But, looking now at the one who said it, I was shocked beyond disbelief.  _ M-Miru…?! _

Her hair was dark green now, like the tips of her bangs had been before, and two green feathers, colored many shades, stuck out of her head; the feathers reminded me of a Peacock's own, long and beautiful and vibrant. Now, instead of her school uniform, she wore a dark green long sleeved shirt that came just above her belly button, with a light green bandana tied around the collar of the shirt. Atop the shirt was also a very dark colored leather jacket and if I’m completely honest, I’m not entirely sure if that’s part of her outfit or if she put that on after she changed. Her school pants were replaced with a blue and green skirt that flowed nicely, coming down to her knees, looking as if the skirt was made of silk. And on her feet were dark green, almost black leather boots that made me wonder if the jacket was part of the outfit once more. But what got to me were the beautiful, long green and blue Peacock feathers spread out behind her.

I knew it was her then, that thick Australian accent couldn’t be faked by anyone else I was sure.  _ It really is Miryoku! But… but what is she… Could she possibly be… she’s actually… the Jade carrier…?  _ My mind was racing, but a dark growl snapped my attention back to the situation at hand and I slumped my shoulders.

“Miru... it’s fine.” I murmured, shaking my head and my ears twitched when I heard her take a sharp step forward.

“Like hell everything’s fine! That bastard has swords, damn it!” she very nearly squawked and I let out a broken chuckle, even then the situation just a tiny bit amused.  _ Not even an hour earlier had I talked with her about him… and now… she’s trying to get me away from Kumo… _

“Go ahead...” I said, directing my attention back towards the vampire, “if you’ve never made such a promise to me, then strike.” I tilted my head then and my smile fell only just a little, tears gathering in my eyes and I tried to blink them away, but it was pointless at this point. “But... think what will happen if you do. The promises you made... think of what will happen to them if you complete the task given to you by your brother… by Ite.” I watched as he faltered then and I couldn’t help it as the smile turned then into a smirk,  _ I knew it. _ I murmured softly, to myself.

“Ame,” Miru growled at me and summoned her Spirit Weapons with a sharp hiss of their name. When I glanced over, I noticed large, thick leather gloves, the same color as the boots and jacket,  _ so the jacket actually is a part of the outfit then… _ that had long, sharp silver claws sticking out from the knuckles.

“Miru, please...” I pleaded to her without looking at her and to my relief, I heard nothing more to her, though I could tell she wanted to do something so very badly. “Please Kumo... come back to me...” I whispered, trying my best not to cry or collapse. I was already on the verge of doing so, one more straw… and I might just end up falling apart completely.

When he didn’t respond, still glaring at me, I frowned, biting my lower lip.  _ Damn it, what in the hell can I do...? _ I questioned, swaying only a little when I took a moment to think, before pausing as I got an idea: a crazy, insane idea that might just work anyway.  _ Please let this work; please let him remember...  _ I thought weakly before taking a few careful steps forward, noting that both he and Miryoku were watching my every move like predators watching their prey.

Closing the gap between us, we stood inches apart, and I saw as his eyes widened, just a fraction, and he tensed up, the grip on his swords tightening just that little bit.  _ I’m on thin ice here… _ I thought, only barely managing a soft, shaky smile and I chose then to wrap my arms around his neck. Standing on my toes, I let out a shaky breath, my lips only centimeters from his own, “Please... Kumo...” I whispered before finally closing the gap and I kissed him, soft and gentle and so very hesitant and unsure.  _ Either the ice will break and I’ll drown… or he’ll finally get up and pull me back to safety… back… to him. _

I watched, for only a second as Kumo’s eyes widened, looking like a deer caught in headlights, before I allowed my own eyes to slip closed. My arms tightened around him for just a moment, when I heard the choked noise Miru let out, but I tried to focus on this, on him… on the kiss.  _ Please let this work, please… It… it has to work… _

But… he wasn’t responding to the kiss, or to my pleas, and for several heartbeats, as my tears finally fell, I thought it wasn’t going to work and I started to pull away. It wasn’t until he wrapped his arms around my waist, kissing me back tenderly, that I knew it worked and somewhere in the back of my mind I registered the fact that his weapons had disappeared. Smiling softly, I let both my body and my mind relax.  _ Finally… my Kumo… _ I felt as he pulled back after several more heartbeats, and he stared into my eyes when they cracked open. “I’m so sorry... Ame.” he whispered to me, his arms around me tightening when he buried his face against the side of my neck that wasn’t bitten. I let out a little whimper, finally changing back from my Spirit form, my ears and tail disappearing, and my jacket returning, now barely stained by blood.

I only nodded my head, the pain in my body growing fiercer by the second now that the direness of the situation had faded. “I am too...” I murmured, “for leaving you like that and… saying what I did...” I closed my eyes and rested my head against his shoulder, leaning most of my weight against him, the exhaustion taking over.

“Ame…?” I made a little noise in answer, but said nothing else and he sighed, maneuvering around so he was able to pick me up, one arm carefully under my back and the other under my knees, carrying me as if he’d done this a thousand times before.

I only barely let a smile cross my lips, before my attention turned back to Miru and I cracked my eyes open, only barely noticing that Miru was still in her Spirit form, her entire body trembling and her eyes wide with confusion and shock and annoyance- “W-what’s going on, damn it?!” -before closing them as sleep finally claimed me.

And the last thing I heard was Kumo’s voice whispering in my ears, “I always keep my promises… little kitten…”


	16. Chapter 15

_ Kumo sighed heavily, leaning against the wall of the dorm room while sitting on his little kitten’s dresser. “Damn it Ite... I’ll get you back for that...” he mumbled, opening his eyes to look at the sleeping angel beside him. _

_He smiled,_ Ame looks so adorable when he’s sleeping, _thinking softly to himself as he looked the little cat over. His hair was partly falling in his face, his arm resting against him and his pale figure looked absolutely stunning._ _Kumo’s gaze traveled to his faze and his breath caught, noting how Ame’s soft pink lips were parted slightly in his sleep. Groaning and shaking the thoughts from his head, only then did he notice someone entering the room._

_ “How is he?” the girl with the feathers, who he now knew as Miryoku, questioned, her eyes narrowed, not even looking at him. _

_ “No better than he was an hour ago,” Kumo replied bitterly, sighing when she glared at him. _

_ “You better start explaining some things right now,” she said, sounding like a mother scolding her child and Kumo scowled, crossing his arms and he directed his full attention to her. _

_ “Why the hell should I?” _

_ “Because little Ame here is my friend and from what I understand, you broke his heart and almost very nearly killed him.” she snapped and Kumo narrowed his own eyes at her then, so she opted to continue. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but he was pretty broken up about the whole fairy-tale love story between you two, so...” she trailed when Kumo made a small noise in surprise, as he glanced at Ame and then back at her. _

_ “How do you know about that?” _

_ “Because I found him crying under a tree about it, that’s how,” she sighed in frustration, running her hand over her face before carding her fingers through her hair, playing a little with the dark green tips. “Look, just please tell me what happened at the park, because I have no idea and I really only have the few details of what happened from when I showed up.” _

_ “And if I don’t?” Sighing then, he lowered his head, slumping his shoulders as he remembered everything that happened... he’d hurt Ame and he hadn’t been able to even stop.  _ Damn it... why couldn’t I have been stronger? I could’ve stopped Ite from... but I just... he made me hurt my little kitten...

_ “Then I’ll have to ask you to leave the room,” she narrowed her eyes when she said this, holding up her gemstone, telling him that she would force him to leave if necessary. Not that Kumo was actually afraid of her, but he nodded anyway. She wasn’t going to make him leave Ame, not when the Spirit needed him the most... not when he is the reason Ame is like this in the first place. _

_ “Look, all I can tell you is that I’m not from around here-” _

_ “I figured, what with the red eyes, the pointy ears, the bite marks on his neck, and the fact that you can float in mid-air.” He glared at her, annoyed and frustrated, but he only received the same heated glare back. _

_ “My brothers and I are here on a mission to restore our home... but we need something or rather... someone... in order to complete our goal.” he murmured softly, glancing back at the sleeping Spirit. _

_ “That someone wouldn’t happen to be little Ame here, now would it?” she asked, eyes narrowed, and he deflated a little, nodding his head in answer. _

_ “Yeah,” he sighed softly, reaching out and he gently brushed his fingers through the cat's hair, “you’re aware of the main component in the Onyx gem, right?” he questioned and she nodded, confused and skeptical. “Well, it’s what we need to restore our home, and we found out that he... he just so happens to have the right amount that we need to do so...” he sighed and closed his eyes, tightly, his hand stilling for only a moment. “But you see, the thing with components is that if you use them up, they disappear forever and because Ame’s spirit is made of that almost entirely, he’ll... well, in the end, he’ll die if we use him.” _

_ Miryoku’s eyes widened at that and she gaped at him, taken aback. “You aren’t actually thinking about going through with it, are you?” she asked him and he snapped his eyes open in a sharp, venomous glare directed at her. _

_ “Are you stupid or something!?” he hissed at her, only to lower his voice when Ame whimpered and he let out a harsh breath. “Don’t you think I would’ve already taken him to my brother by now?” he growled and she opened her mouth to say something but closed it when she saw him look at Ame once more, his expression filled with so much care, love, and kindness.  _ He really does love him... _ she thought, not having the heart to reply to the demon with such anger anymore. _

_ “What are you going to do?” _

_ “I’m going to do my best to keep him safe, from my brothers and from my people.” he nodded his head at this and glanced at her for only a moment. “The only thing I can do is keep the promises that I made to him.” _

_ “What exactly did you promise him?” she murmured in question and he chuckled softly, smiling just a little as he continued to pet Ame gently. _

_ “That I... I would always protect him, no matter what and that I would never leave him again.” he let out a soft sigh at that and shook his head. “I can’t risk him getting hurt again, not if I can’t do anything about it.” _

_ “I thought demons weren’t capable of love,” she smirked at this and he looked back up at her with a simple smirk. _

_ “Oh, didn’t you know?” Tilting his head up, he continued, “I’m one of a kind.” he grinned cheekily at this and then watched as she walked over to the bed that Ame’s blonde friend used. She sat down and sighed softly, looking up at him with frowning forest green eyes. _

_ “Ame has a kind heart, Kumo. Sooner or later... he’s going to end up making that decision on his own,” she said and when he only frowned back at her in confusion, she added, “to help you and your brothers, I mean.” _

_ “What are you saying?” he hissed, staring at her in disbelief and mild anger. “That he would just give his life up to help us?!” Kumo asked, only just that little bit shocked when she nodded her head. In the end, he knew what she was saying, thought about it, over and over, as one of the endless possible scenarios of what would happen if he ever got Ame to be his. _

_ “If he loves you as much as I’m lead to believe, then he’s not going to let this go on, knowing that you will still always hold a place for your family, your friends, and your home.” she said and looked at Ame, Kumo following her gaze and he felt his chest tighten a little when he saw the cat snuggle up against the pillow cutely. _

_ “But if he goes through with it, then...” he frowned, eyes sad and full of pain before shaking his head. “It’ll be pointless, I love him more than I have ever loved anyone else.” _

_ “Then show him. Help him win the battle that has been created between your siblings and his friends. Don’t keep him from it; don’t just protect him, fight with him as well.” she smiled at him when he ran his hand through his hair in frustration, unsure what to do. _

_ Lowering his head though, he spoke, “If he fights, he’ll get hurt even more.” he said, almost in a pathetic whisper, and her smile only grew wider as she hopped up from the bed and she grabbed his hand. She looked into his eyes, firm and gentle, when his gaze snapped back towards her. _

_ “But at least he’ll know you care,” she nodded sharply and then turned away from the two, letting go of his hand, before walking to the door and she turned back to him, nodding her head towards Ame. “Well, our little hero is waiting for an answer, better tell him before it really is too late.” She shook her head then and turned to leave, walking out of the room and finally leaving the two behind on their own. _

_ Kumo frowned a bit before sighing and he shook his head, turning back towards Ame. He wasn’t prepared, though, when he saw what he did and he heard the Spirit whimpering in his sleep. His eyes widened when he saw Ame shaking, the kitten curled up tighter in his blanket, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes, threatening to spill over at any given moment. _

_ Standing up from the dresser, he sat beside Ame on the bed, wiping away the few tears that fell and he brushed away the soft hair from his face. “Ame,” he whispered lightly as he barely shook him, trying to wake or calm him, “it’s okay,” he murmured, soft and gentle, “everything’s okay...” _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

Waking up to a familiar, soft voice, I let out a small noise, burying my face into my pillow. I could hear Kumo’s voice and the sounds of birds out my window; I could feel the soft, familiar sheets of my bed beneath me, the soft cotton of the blanket covering myself, and my pillow under my head; and I could smell his scent, washing over me and calming me, but I could also smell... soup? “H-huh...?” I winced when I heard how broken my voice sounded and I felt how rough my throat was. Cracking my eyes open, just a bit, I saw Kumo beside me and I noticed, barely, that I was back in my dorm room.  _ Why do people always take me here after I get hurt...? Wait... I really did smell soup... _ I noted, feeling heat come to my cheeks when my stomach growled and Kumo chuckled, setting the bowl of soup on the dresser and helping me sit up, though I hissed when I felt the bruises and cuts, as well as the bite to my neck.  _ I’m never going to get used to that... _

He touched his hand to my cheek and brushed his thumb against my skin, only causing the heat to grow and I blinked my eyes slowly before glancing away, just a bit embarrassed when I recalled what had happened just before I fainted.  _ He carried me like a princess... _ “Hey, Ame, it’s okay.” he said softly and I was suddenly reminded of my dream... the nightmare I’d had before it’d somehow all went away. Lowering my head, the soup temporarily forgotten, I sat up and held him tightly, resting my head on his shoulder when he sat down on the bed, beside me.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me tighter, just like in my dreams. “I... I’m so sorry... Kumo...” I whispered as he rubbed my back lightly, the pain still there but I could barely feel it right now. “I... I never should’ve left... if I hadn’t then... y-you wouldn’t have...” I cut myself off there, feeling tears gathering in my eyes again.

“Ame,” he shushed me softly, “it’s alright, it’s not your fault.” he said and I whimpered just a little, looking up at him.  _ It is my fault... I left, Kumo! Damn it, and Ite... he was able to get to you... just like he would’ve gotten to me if I hadn’t... if I just... _

I shook my head violently and winced slightly from the pain it caused, but I ignored the ever-present headache. “It is,” I let out a shaky breath and backed up from him, my head lowered once again. “If I hadn’t said those things to you and if I had just... stayed... then...”

“Then you wouldn’t have met Miryoku,” he sighed and chuckled only just a little when I looked up at him, my eyes wide with shock and surprise.

“H-huh…?”

“If you hadn’t met her, none of this wouldn’t have happened. I wouldn’t be here with you now. Instead you’d most likely be in Ite’s hands right now.” he said and I frowned at that, only to watch as he smiled gently back at me. “Ame, I love you, more than a demon ever should love a human, and no matter what, I’ll stick by your side.” he said and I smiled wide at this, before practically jumping into his arms, hugging him tightly. And if the wet feeling against my cheeks was anything to go by, then I was most probably crying again too, but right here and right now… I didn’t even give a rat’s ass.

I could tell he’d been shocked, but it was only a split-second later before he wrapped his arms tightly around me once more and hugged me back. “I may not have been able to admit it before, but... “I... I love you too, Kumo...” I sighed deeply, though I could feel my cheeks heating up again, “I just wish I had said something sooner.”

“Heh, so then, does this mean I get to finally call you mine?” he asked me, grinning cheekily and I pulled back, the heat now even more prominent and I gulped, glancing away.

“W-well... um... I-I uh.... don’t really...” I ducked my head and made a small noise in embarrassment when he chuckled, taking my chin in his hand and he tilted my head up, smirking a little at me. I was pretty sure my ears and tail were showing now, and if they weren’t-

Leaning in, he kissed me, soft and gentle and I couldn’t help but let my eyes slip closed as I kissed him back. When he pulled away, he smirked and kissed the tip of my nose. “Heh, you’re too cute, my little kitten.”

-then they most definitely were now.

I pouted a little, the heat upon my cheeks seeming permanent, but the pout was soon gone and I stuck my tongue out, my ears twitching as my tail quivered and thumped against the blanket beside me. “Meh, the panther has finally been tamed by the vampire...” I let out a dramatic sigh only to pause when he laughed.

“Well, not quite,” he purred and I looked up at him, confused, tilting my head to the side and asking the silent question with my eyes. “That mark was only a way to tell others that you were already claimed. Now, the second part… is for my own satisfaction of permanently making you mine and mine alone.” he smirked at this, his fangs glinting in the light from the sun outside the windows, and my eyes widened, the heat once more returning to my face when he gently pushed me back onto the bed, a startled noise leaving my throat when my head hit the pillow.

Shaking my head though, I immediately knew then what he was talking about and I felt my breath hitch, my heart racing a mile a minute. “W-wait..!! K-Kumo I d-don’t want to-!” I was cut off by a gentle kiss upon my lips and I whimpered slightly when he smirked.  _ N-not only did he steal my first kiss... but he’s also going to... to… Ooh... I’m screwed… _ I thought and whimpered mentally before finally just giving in, melting into the kiss and into his touch.  _ In more ways than one. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

Scowling a little at the ground, I pushed myself on the swings, wincing when I did so. Currently, I was at the playground with all of my friends; including my ‘master’ Kumo.  _ Damn him… _ I groaned as I slowed to a stop on the swing, unable to really do so any longer. Sighing heavily, I watched Miryoku walk up to me with a wide, sharp grin. My eyes narrowed when I realized she’d manage to drag the entire fan-club with her, the girls and my supposed best friends following behind her.  _ Traitors… the lot of them… _

“So? How’s our favorite little uke?”

“Great,” I lied, clean through my teeth before pausing and I sighed.  _ Well, actually I am kinda okay, it’s just… my ass hurts like hell, but there is no way in hell I’m going to tell them that Kumo and I.... had... _ I felt heat spread across my cheeks at my thoughts and I quickly shook them away, blushing even more when the girls giggled,  _ giggled _ , at me.

“Nothing exciting happened in the past twenty four hours?” Banira questioned and I rolled my eyes, scrunching my nose up.  _ I can’t believe them… why would they ever actively seek out this kind of information… what’s so exciting about hearing that… that… er… _

“No,” I lied again, shaking my head once more, the blush seemingly permanent.  _ I seriously need to stop letting my thoughts wander like this… _

“Nothing at all happened?” Odori asked and I groaned, becoming just a tiny bit annoyed with them all.

“No.”

“Did you two at least kiss?” Akatsuki questioned, smirking as she crossed her arms and I growled at her.

“Damn it, leave me alone already! Stop asking questions!”

“Oh come on, something  _ fun _ and  _ exciting _ must have happened between you two!” Miryoku placed her hands on her hips and I lowered my head, whimpering when they all laughed. Shaking my head sharply, I started to try and swing again, deciding that ignoring them was the best to proceed, but after a few moments, they were still there.

“Go away...” I finally whined,  _ This is practically torture! …and now my head hurts too… _ The girls all shared a look before Akatsuki and Miryoku smirked, Odori and Banira grinning and I scowled at them before feeling the swing jerk to a stop and I yelped in surprise, eyes wide. I then felt arms wrap around my waist and I let out a soft sigh of relief when I realized it was just Kumo. “D-damn it, Kumo! Don’t do that!!” I growled out and he chuckled, resting his chin on my shoulder and I glanced to the side, pouting a little, the grip on the chains of the swing tightening.  _ Stupid vampire… always showing up at the worst of moments… _ I thought, though it was more-so with a fond tone now, rather than a bitter one.

“Sorry kitten,” he practically purred in my ear and I shivered a little, very aware that the girls were still watching me.

“Hey Kumo,” Akatsuki grinned, though I noted a bit of annoyance hidden in her gaze.  _ Guess she hasn’t yet forgiven him for what he’s done… not that I blame her, there are still quite a few things that I haven’t forgiven or forgotten yet, either.  _ But her tone suggested something that I really didn’t like and it had me second-guessing things.  _ If I know anything about Kumo, it's that he’s definitely one for embarrassing me… and Suki will no doubt ask him to reveal something very embarrassing… _

“Yes?” he looked at the girls, a hidden smirk playing at his lips and I whimpered when Odori stepped up, her hands behind her head, casual, but her expression said it all.  _ Oh fuck… _

“Can you tell us what happened with you and little Ame?” she pleaded, acting all innocent, and I nearly choked on my breath as Kumo’s smirk became visible.

“K-Kumo, don’t you dare say anything,” I hissed at him and he didn’t even glance at me when he started to speak.

“As a matter of fact,” he paused when I whined.

“Kumo,  _ please _ ...” I practically begged and his smirk grew larger.

“And if I don’t tell them?” he whispered in my ear and I gulped, my breath quickening just a bit.

“I... um... well....” I bit my lower lip and shook my head sharply, “I’ll do  _ anything _ , just  _ please _ don’t tell them.” I blushed, hissing at him underneath my breath.

“Oh, but you know I’ll just end up telling them later on,” he snickered and I groaned, letting my head fall forward, defeated.

“Why do you have to torture me so much Kumo... you’re such an ass...!” I whined playfully and tried to wriggle out of his grasp without wincing too bad.  _ Ow… fuck, okay, that hurts… _

“Kumo~!” Miryoku sang out, grinning. “We’re still waiting for an answer. And you may as well tell us now,” she snickered, “we’re going to figure out sooner or later.” I knew she was right, of course they were going to find out sooner or later. It was just a matter of whether I wanted to be around when they found out.  _ And I don’t… but… damn it… _

“Oh fine,” I mumbled, sighing softly, “you can tell them.” Shaking my head, I puffed out my cheeks, leaning back against his chest.

Kumo smirked at this, clearly pleased to have been given permission and he nuzzled my neck, the touch causing me to whimper as he brushed over the bite mark, teasing me. “Let’s just say this, my little kitten is no longer a virgin.” he said and honestly, it wouldn’t have been so bad if the girls didn’t fucking laugh and giggle. Even  _ Sesu _ heard that and fuck, I was going to kill him if he ever mentioned this at school. Whimpering, I wanted so bad to check if my ears and tail were showing, but I was guessing that, yes, they most definitely were, if Kumo giving me his trench coat was anything to go by. I actually kinda forgot the thing had a hood.

“Awe, how cute!” Sesu teased me and I scowled at him, my ears lowered against my head and my tail flicked out harshly and I was glad that Kumo was still standing behind me on the swing or else my tail surely would’ve been spotted, even hidden beneath the coat as it was.

“Fuck you!” I hissed at him and he held up his hands, laughing as he walked away.  _ God damn him… this is unfair! _

“Sometimes I wonder why I fell for a guy like you,” I huffed out, shaking my head, remembering why I was in this situation in the first place. The girls all laughed, giggling and talking to one another as Kumo whine and tried to come up with something to say when I jumped off of the swing, pulling his coat tightly around me and I tried to walk comfortably and quickly away. It… didn’t work so much, so I tried slowing down a bit and that at least didn’t cause me to wince with every step.

“Aw, Ame,” Kumo whined, “come on, don’t be like that…” and I could practically hear the smirk in his voice as he followed after me. Catching up to me, he reached out and grabbed my wrist, wrapping one arm around my waist. “You wouldn’t want me to put a leash on that collar, now would you?” he purred into my ears and they twitched, my eyes impossibly wide as I instinctively moved my hand up to touch the collar around my neck. “You’d be such a pretty little pet, the leash wrapped around my hand… you on your knees before me, can’t you just picture it?”

I shivered at his words, and the tone of his voice, but I quickly shook away the admittedly pleasing images from my head. Huffing, I turned my head away, crossing my arms, causing him to let go of my wrist, but I didn’t bother moving away from him. “I don’t even know why I haven’t taken the stupid thing off yet...”

“Oh, it’s not that bad,” he chuckled lightly, brushing his free hand against my cheek, “being my little uke, is it?” he questioned, soft and smooth, and I closed my eyes tightly, trying to ignore him, “Well?”

“It is if I’m going to have to deal with this everyday,” I huffed and he snickered. Thinking for a few moments, I snapped my eyes open and then smirked, wiggling away from him after actually forcefully removing his arm from my waist. “You know what? No, actually it’s not,” I started when I turned around to face him and he almost grinned, if it weren’t for the fact that my own smirk widened and he looked at me with skepticism, “because last night was only a one time thing.” His face was priceless, it truly was. It’s amazing how guys’ minds work like that. With the mention of no intercourse for a while or at all in general, they immediately freeze up and it’s so incredibly easy to predict how they’ll act.

“Wait, what??” he choked out, blinking a few times at me and I almost laughed.

Wiggling a finger in front of his face, I stuck my tongue out before repeating myself, “That was only a one time thing, okay?” but this time it was a bit slower, just so he wouldn’t think I said something else instead, “We’re not doing it again.”

“What!? You can’t be serious about this?” Kumo narrowed his eyes a little at me and I snickered, backing away from him, the trench coat flowing around me. “That’s not fair!”

“Well guess what... life’s not fa-” he cut me off, a sharp gasp leaving me as my eyes widened, when he grabbed my wrist and he pulled me towards him, kissing me hard and rough. I blinked a few times, still incredibly startled before I began struggling, but he held firm and tried to deepen the kiss.  _ I know what he’s doing, and I’m not going to let him.... I’m not going.... to.... Damn it! _ I thought as I finally gave into the kiss, closing my eyes and wrapping arms around his neck. I felt him smirk against the kiss and I whimpered only a little inside my head.  _ Damn, I’m so weak whenever it comes to him.  _ I thought bitterly when we’d finally broke the kiss, both of us panting for air, but he had that annoying little smirk on his face, the one I haven’t seen for over a month now. Oh how I hate that smirk...

“Well then, we’re going to have to change your mind a bit, huh?” he purred the question and I gulped, feeling my cheeks heat up a bit. He pushed me down on a bench, that I didn’t even notice was behind me, and placed both of his hands on either side of my shoulders, boxing me in and effectively trapping me when he rested his leg in between my own. I tried pulling my knees up to my chest, but he wouldn’t let me, that damn smirk still on his face.

“K-Kumo... what are you... doing...?” I stuttered, but he didn’t answer me, only leaning down to kiss me again. I instantly melted into the kiss, but was immediately taken out of it when I felt his knee rub against me. Letting out a choked whimper, I shook my head, trembling. If there was one thing that always got to me, it was pleasure… I was weak when it came to that and whenever things like this happened, I never lasted long.

“P-please... Kumo… s-stop…” I pleaded with a little whine and he snickered, giving a little nip to my cheek, leaning in close to my ears. And I realized that to any passerby, it would just look like we were having a somewhat normal, but very private conversation and they would be oblivious to what the vampire was doing if they never bothered to get close enough to look.

“Heh, not until you give up the little ‘no more sex’ attitude.”

“B-but...” I whimpered again and shook my head, letting out a puff of breath. “K-kumo... I... you know... I...” I closed my eyes tightly and tried to even out my breathing, but failed miserably. “Kumo, please... s-stop...” I tried again and I could feel the smirk, this time.  _ I’m so close… _

“If you really want me to, then okay.” he snickered and he stood up and grinned at me before walking away, as if nothing happened. I had snapped my eyes wide open when I felt him move away and now I could only stare stupidly before finally regaining enough though to at least yell after him.

“K-Kumo...! W-wait!” My ears lowered and my tail wrapped tightly around my leg and I tried to stand up, whimpering in embarrassment. “Damn it… Kumo...! Please come back...! Don’t leave me... like this...!” I whined, and he only laughed, loud and the sound was filled with so much amusement.  _ Damn it, that bastard... _ “Come back!”


	17. Chapter 16

Letting out a soft sigh, I turned my gaze upward towards the night sky, the stars shining down upon me as I sat on one of the many benches in the park. I only had a few more minutes left until I had to change; from a human, back into a damned house cat.  _ The least the Spirits could’ve done was give me a more useful form. I can barely do a thing as tiny as I am… _ I sighed heavily, shaking my head before tensing when I felt another’s presence.

“Oh Ame...” Kumo whispered my name is a tone that had me biting my lower lip in response. Turning my head away, I didn’t give him the benefit of the doubt, not this time.

“Go away...” I huffed out, trying to keep my tone as straight as possible.

“Aw, don’t be like that, I said I was sorry...” he murmured, sitting down beside me, leaning in close and I could hear the pout in his voice and I glanced at him for a moment, only to see that damned smirk. Narrowing my eyes, I hissed at him and turned away again, crossing my arms defiantly.

“Sorry my ass…”

“Hey, I did that for a reason,” he said and I glared at him, clearly very unamused.

“Yeah,” I growled, “just so I would let you get into my pants again.”

“That’s not true.” he said with a small chuckle and I snorted, turning my head away again.

“Whatever,” I mumbled and he pouted.

“Come on, please… I promise I won’t do it again...” he pleaded, the pout clear in his tone and I couldn’t help the little laugh that bubbled up before sighing as I looked back up at the stars.

“It doesn’t matter much anymore anyway,” I said, staring right at the moon and I heard him mumble something under his breath before sighing and I watched, from the corner of my eye, as he leaned back against the bench, looking up as well.

“Tch, why does it have to be you turning into a cat every full moon?” he grumbled and I allowed a smirk to play at my lips, glancing at him.

“I wouldn’t be here right now if it was someone else that had,” I stated and turned towards him, ready to tease, and I leaned forward a little, planting a kiss on his cheek before finally letting the moon change my form.

“Now that really isn’t fair,” he complained, glaring a little up at the moon before looking back at me as I laid down on the bench. Chuckling lightly, I nuzzled against him before hissing in surprise when he picked me up. I let him though, but only really because he’d maneuvered himself around so he was lying down on the bench now. When he was at least a little comfortable, he set me down on his chest, petting my fur. I yawned and crawled closer to his head, nuzzling his neck. “Heh, night little kitten,” he smiled softly, gently scratching behind my ears as I crawled up a little, nuzzling him and getting comfortable.

Yawning again, I attempted a smile back,  _ “Goodnight Kumo...” _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

“Oh my gosh! You’re so adorable!” Miryoku laughed as she picked me up, cooing at me and looking as if she had just seen the cutest thing in the entire world. Scowling, I pawed at her, but didn’t really try to get away; it was best to just let her have her own fun for a bit until she got bored.

It had barely been an hour since closing time and we were all just trying to clean up the café. At least, we had been until Miryoku finally decided to stop being a clean freak and started acting like a normal teenager. She had been getting so good at learning the ropes in the café too, her outfit fitting her perfectly and seemingly only making her more... bouncy.

In her hair was a green headband and her outfit consisted of a short frilly green dress with blue and green designs of all shades, with a light green bandana that nearly matched the one in her gem form. The back of the bandana tied just right, to hide her own Spirit Mark. She chose to still wear a leather jacket and her own leather boots though, which no one seemed to mind. And on her hands were green fingerless gloves that were a bit short, but were long enough to cover her wrists.

_ “Miru... put me down... _ ” I huffed out, despite my thoughts, tired and exhausted. She only managed to hug me tighter, nuzzling my fur and my ears lowered.  _ What is with these people and cuddling cats like this? It’s not okay! _ I thought with a small pitiful pout, glaring weakly at the peacock.

“I don’t want to,” she finally giggled in answer and I groaned before turning my attention to the vampire currently sitting at the table behind her.  _ Damn bastard… looking at me with that smirk… _

_“Kumo...”_ I whined pitifully, as I reached a paw out towards him in a slightly dramatic way and I put up my best ‘please help me, I’m just a poor defenseless little kitten’ face. Of course he fell for it easily, but the damn bastard just shook his head and chuckled, turning his head to the side, though his red eyes were staring right into my own as he spoke.

“Sorry kitty-kat, but you’re on your own with this one.” he purred, with a light, barely there smirk, and I gaped at him, my jaw dropping at this.  _ A-are you serious!? _

_ “Wha-!?” _ I cursed in my head again when he put a hand over his mouth when my mouth snapped closed and I hissed when I bit my own tongue.  _ What the hell!? Stupid vampire... look what you made me do! _ I hissed in my thoughts and only received a few giggles and laughs at what I’d done.  _ “What kind of... s-seme doesn’t help out his little... uke... when he’s in trouble...?” _ I whined, though it was all an act. I had trouble getting out the words, and the vampire knew it, raising an eyebrow at me in amusement; so I decided to play it up:  _ “Y-you’re so c-cruel...!” _

“Aw, Kumo made the cute little kitty cry!” Odori giggled, petting my head and I swatted at her hand with a little hiss as Akatsuki and Banira laughed at me. Miryoku was still hugging me like a teddy bear, I noticed; but of course, it was hard not to notice when you’re torso was being squeezed like you were jelly. And even as all of this was happening, Kumo still made absolutely no attempt to save me from their clutches; or more accurately, from Miryoku’s death hug.  _ I-I’m not a fucking stuffed animal! _

_ “K-kumo!” _ I hissed at him, one eye closed, part in act and part because I actually was starting to lose feeling in my back paws. _ “Help m-me or I swear to any God o-out there, I’m going to dump you!” _

“You can’t do anything in your current state,” he smirked at me and I frowned, actually very displeased with his reaction.  _ Tch, how would he react if I actually honest to God said that I wanted to? He wouldn’t be smirking then... or... would he? _ Shaking my thoughts away, I turned my muzzle away and scowled at the table.

_ “Ass.” _ I muttered, mostly to myself and started to struggle once more against Miryoku’s tight grip. She finally got the hint and let me go and I jumped to the ground, landing on my feet, the collar jingling loudly as I did so. Shaking my fur, if only to hear the jingle again, I started forward as Kumo spoke.

“Heh, says the one with the ass I can’t-” cutting him off, I turned to look up at him with a sharp hiss, my ears laid back.

_ “Don’t you dare say another word,”  _ I snapped, baring my fangs before jumping up onto the table, temporarily forgetting about my plans to leave and I sat down, as the girls giggled behind me. I ignored them though and started on washing my fur, licking my paws before dragging them over my head and my ears.

“Does the subject really bother you that much?” Kumo questioned, hiding a grin and I looked at him, a blush hidden by my black fur, and I huffed, eyes narrowed.

_ “N-no, of course not,” _ I mumbled, looking down when I stuttered and I mentally cursed myself.

“I bet it does.” He prodded with a now visible grin and I glared at him again, holding my head high.  _ I’m not about to let him win...! _

_ “No, it doesn’t.” _

“Oh yeah? Then if it doesn’t bother you,” he smirked and poked me lightly in the chest, before flicking his finger up, catching my chin and I made a small noise that resembled a whine but was really more like a squeak, “why don’t you just say it?”

My eyes widened and the heat upon my cheeks grew, though I wasn’t certain if it was visible or not yet.  _ “U-um... well uh.... I-I don’t... er... I don’t want to.” _ I stuttered out and I blame the fact that the girls’ laughter only got louder and even Miryoku and Akatsuki commented on it all.  _ S-shut up! I can’t even hear myself think! _

“You don’t want to or you can’t?” Kumo teased, lowering his head and his eyes were glinting with mischief, amusement, and devious pleasure.

_ “Kumo!” _ I finally snapped at him, eyes closed, but they only snapped wide open when he chuckled and I frowned, ears twitching and my tail thumped angrily beside him.

“Hah, I knew it.” he laughed and picked me up, holding me close to his chest and for a single moment, I wanted to just curl up and stay there, but the girls were still giggling and I could still feel the heat upon my cheeks. My tail continued to lash out and I tried to struggle, once more, out of his grasp.

_ “Put me down!” _ I growled and clawed at his chest, though he did little but wince and held me tighter, chuckling in my ears and I almost melted like goo.

“Now, what would be the fun in that, my pretty little kitten?” The smirk was evident in his voice and it only succeeded in making me more desperate to get away. I was angry, sure, but I was also worn out and tired. I’d spent all night looking for the other two members and didn’t have any luck and now the girls were doing this and Kumo...  _ fucking bastard... _

_ “H-hey!” _ I whined, and frantically searched for a way out before finally using my one sure-fire ticket out of here, hoping it worked, _ “Y-you’re hurting me!” _ My voice came out more high-pitched than I would’ve liked, but I was sure it would get the job done. Unless of course, he managed to see right through the lie.

“No,” he said, in a simple tone with an amused tint to it, “I’m not.”

Finally, slumping my head against his chest, I gave up, my tail falling limp.  _ “Jerk...” _ I whispered, only so he could hear, though it was a bit half-assed, I admit.

“Oh but, my dear little kitten, didn’t you know?” He murmured, loud enough so the others could hear, though he was directing the question towards me. I made a small noise in return, ears lazily twitching and I nuzzled my head against him. “You just called me a king.”

Pausing, I frowned, wondering what he meant before shaking the thoughts away.  _ He... is a very strange vampire... _ I thought, only barely managing to hide my smile.  _ “Then I... here-by dub you King Bastard,”  _ I purred out, laughing a little and he laughed too, the sound resonating from deep within him and I really did melt that time, content where I was.

It was only when Miryoku clapped her hands together, ‘awing’ at me, that I snapped back to attention and I frowned before lifted my head away, ears lowered.  _ “Miryoku... please don’t...” _ I trailed off when I realized me pleading for her to stop was never going to work, so I sighed and turned back to look up at Kumo, pleading silently for him to let me go. He finally did and I smiled at him, purring when he lingered, petting me on the head and scratching behind my ears and the scruff of my neck.  _ Ah, I wish he’d do this more often... _ I thought, noting that it felt really nice to be pet like this. I stopped and shied away when I realized what just went through my head and I huffed, still blushing,  _ Great, now I’m truly acting like a petty little house-cat. Well, that’s that then! _ Shaking my head I stood up and directed my attention to the others.  _ “I’m going to go out and search some more. You guys should clean up here, before Hai gets back and yells at you all for being lazy like last time.” _ I said and Miryoku huffed out a laugh.

“Alright Ame, just be careful,” she murmured, and the worry hidden in her tone, and the others’ eyes when they all nodded and murmured in agreement, was enough to have me smiling before jumping from the table. Pleased with the jingle from the bells once more, I padded out of the café and through the open doors.

It was only then, however, that I was passed by two total strangers that I never thought I’d see coming here.  _ I-it can’t be... _ I thought, freezing up as I took in what I saw.

The first one was a little girl, about as tall as Samyueru and she had very light, almost white, blonde hair; I took note of the fact that she had a small pink bubble marking upon her ankle, barely hidden by her low cut shoes.  _ A Spirit Mark! _ I thought and finally turned around, looking at the other girl, eyes wide. She was the tallest of them, as tall as Miryoku and she had dark brown hair, too, along with a small blue and red fang upon her sleeveless shoulder.  _ Then this must mean... yes! I found them! Er... well, they found us... _

I wasn’t able to make it back inside in time, however, before the door was shut in my face, the girls disappearing behind it and I sighed in frustration and annoyance as I pawed at the door.  _ “H-hey! Come on, open up!” _ I whined, but it was very evident that they couldn’t hear me from out here.  _ Damn it... and just when... what a perfect way to start the night off...  _ I thought, deflating a little before turning away from the door and I walked away and back towards the park.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Akatsuki was the first to notice the strange girls walking in, only seconds after Ame had left, and she frowned in her seat. “I’m sorry,” she began slowly, uncertain what to make of it, and she caught the other girls’ attentions, even Kumo’s, “but if you couldn’t tell, we’re sort of closed today.” she finished, standing up now, brushing off her dress. _

_ “Yeah we noticed,” the brunette growled out, clothed in normal street clothes with a sleeveless shirt, crossing her arms, “but we aren’t here for the so called desserts that you guys sell.” Odori and Miryoku turned with a sharp glare towards her while Banira frowned in confusion and Akatsuki growled back. _

_ “A-are you five by any chance the... um, J-jeweled Spirits that the people in town keep... keep talking about?” the younger blonde stuttered, clothed in jeans and an over-sized jacket that looked like it belonged to the brunette, looking shyly at them all. Miryoku hummed, crossing her arms and tilting her head up, regarding the two with a small calculating frown. She wasn’t sure what to make of them, but given the question, their reason for being here might actually be important. _

_ The vampire kept silent as the girls glared at the oldest newcomer, before finally standing up and he sighed, rubbing at the back of his head. Nodding to his... friends, he spoke, “I better go check up on my little Ame, see if I can’t bring him back as well. He can’t have gotten too far, after all.” He murmured and waved to them before calmly and quietly walking past the other two, pushing the doors open and exiting the café, leaving the building in silence. _

_ “Well,” the brunette finally spat, “are you going to answer?” _

_ “And if we are?” Miryoku questioned, before narrowing her eyes when she spotted the Spirit Mark upon the girl’s shoulder. _

_ “Exactly who wants to know?” Banira asked, before Miryoku could mention them and the peacock sighed, regarding the smaller blonde rather than turning to her blonde friend. _

_ “Those aren’t tattoos, are they?” _

_ “M-my name is Hana, and this... this is my big sister, Sukai,” the girl murmured, squirming a little when the brunette sneered, “and well... n-no they aren’t.” _

_ That was when Sukai cut in sharply, “These marks have been corrupting our normal life, so if you want to keep your heads, I’d suggest you tell us how to get rid of it.” She threatened and Hana frowned, taking a step closer to her sister, hesitantly putting a hand on her other shoulder, whispering something that Sukai only huffed at. _

_ “That answer is simple-” Odori said, before Akatsuki could cut in with a sharp insult, though she had a vicious glare upon her face. When the fox caught on that she had to play ‘nice’, she opted to finish the sentence for the wolf. _

_ “-you can’t.” she finished as a sly grin made its way to her own face. In truth, she’d very much like to see the brunette in front of her try and carry out the threat.  _ Just thinking about it gets my blood boiling with excitement. I can’t wait to put her in her place! _ Sukai growled at this, though, and Hana bit at her lip, lowering her head, her hair covering half her face. _

_ “Y-you aren’t serious, a-are you?” Hana asked in a soft voice and Odori sighed, shaking her head as she walked over to the youngest. She hesitantly reached out and lifted the other girl’s chin, offering a sad smile. _

_ “I’m sorry, but it’s true. You can’t get rid of the mark or its effects,” she said with a soft look and then smiled brightly, “but there’s a reason that we have them.” She chuckled when Hana looked up at her with bright yellow, pink-tinted eyes. _

_ But before she could speak, her sister cut in, her tone harsh and clipped, “Yeah, no shit, but I think I’d rather have my old life back, thanks,” Sukai seethed and Hana shook her head, frowning at Sukai. _

_ “I don’t mind the mark,” she said and grabbed out a pink pearl that she had in the pocket of her jacket, “I... I like being my favorite animal.” This had the wolf grinning and she chuckled, nodding her head back to the others. _

_ “Well Hana,” she said, “why don’t you come over here and meet the gang,” she looked back at her friends and her grin only grew when Akatsuki grinned as wide as her, while Banira smiled and waved and Miryoku smirked at Hana. _

_ “The name’s Miryoku, or Miru for short,” she said, pointing to herself with her thumb. She then pointed to Akatsuki, “This is Akatsuki, Aka for short or even Suki,” and then Banira, “and this is Banira, or Nira for short.” When she finished, she turned to Odori, letting the wolf introduce her own self. _

_ “And my name is Odori, but you can call me Ori,” she murmured with a soft smile before scowling when Akatsuki snickered. _

_ “Or you can call her Odo if you want to get her mad,” she laughed and Odori glared at her while Hana giggled, a hand covering her mouth, the pearl gripped tightly in her hand. Sukai only huffed and jerked her head away, pissed and more than impatient. _

_ “Come on Ana, let’s just go, we’re wasting our time with these bone-heads.” she hissed and Hana frowned as the four each shot Sukai a glare of their own. _

_ “Who are you calling bone-head!?” Akatsuki growled and Sukai let out a loud laugh, mocking the fox. _

_ “Why you, of course,” she said simply and Akatsuki made a move to grab out her gem, baring her sharp canines to the other. _

_ “I don’t give a fuck if you’re another Spirit,” she bristled, “piss me off and see what happens!” The threat was very clear, but Sukai only grinned sharply, almost feral, grabbing out her own stone, the sapphire glinting from the lights above them. _

_ Odori frowned and turned towards Akatsuki, stepping forward, “Aka, don’t do anything you’ll regret.” she warned, but she was ignored when Sukai taunted the fox and Akatsuki jumped over the table that blocked her way before tackling the other Spirit, with a sharp yell, and they crashed through the doors. _

_ “You bitch!” she shouted and the others all looked at one another when Sukai sneered back, ‘Takes one to know one,’ before following them outside, either anxious, scared, or angered by the turn of events. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

I huffed out a heavy sigh, walking through the crowded streets of the shopping center.  _ “Really, what’s a cat got to do to get some entertainment around here?” _ I complained, ears lowered and I let out another sigh,  _ “I wish Kumo were here...” _ I mumbled and then paused before shaking my head, grimacing as thoughts began entering it.

_ Come on Ame, you’re on a mission! No time to be thinking about him... except, that mission flew straight out the window when those two girls ‘locked’ me out of the café. Damn them... _ I thought, my mood souring again, as I turned into an alleyway, without really thinking about it. I walked on for about a minute before pausing, realizing where I was when dark shadows suddenly fell upon me.

_ “Gee, it’s really dark here,” _ I said and then added, with a nervous twitch from my ears,  _ “I hate the dark.” _ I shivered as I slowed to a stop and finally looked around. It was only when I was about to turn around, planning to head back towards the streets, that I was stopped yet again by a voice that I’d never heard before.

_ “You going someplace?”  _ The voice made me froze, gruff and deep, but when I took a sniff to the air, I nearly gagged, the alley drowning in a scent that was all too familiar: wet dog.  _ “Huh, furball?” _

_ “I... I was just about to leave,” _ I said and turned around slowly to see three very large dog standing behind me. Looking them over, my ears lowered when I noted what they looked like. The first one was an all black Doberman and he had a bunch of scars and red eyes too. The scars and the mean look in his eyes were what had me deciding he was the leader, the one that spoke. It would’ve been amusing, the dog reminding me a bit of Kumo, if I wasn’t actually quite terrified by his appearance.

Another was a Dalmatian with obsidian eyes and a few scars here and there along her body. And the last one was a German Shepherd, otherwise known as the canine police dog, who had dark brown eyes and a wicked smirk on his face. Suddenly even more frightened, I realized with a whimper that these three were the toughest dogs on the streets. And right now, in my current form and position, this was not a very good thing for me.  _ These canines hate cats! And... and I’m a cat! _ I thought, panicking just a little and I tried to see if there was a way out, but they were blocking my primary exit.

_ “I don’t think so little kitty-kat,” _ the Dalmatian barked with a laugh and she stepped forward a bit, causing me to step back.

_ “You step into our territory and you get the consequences,” _ the German Shepherd growled harshly, snapping his jaws at me before laughing when I yelped and jumped back.

_ “I-I didn’t k-know...” _ I squeaked out and lowered my body to the ground, scared beyond reasoning. The only time I’d ever felt scared like this was when I fought with Kumo a while back, but I haven’t felt it since then.  _ W-what do I do!? Come on, think, Ame, think! _

_ “Did you hear that boys? Heh, the little kit didn’t know it was our turf here. Well then, maybe we should cut down the punishment?” _ the Doberman sneered with a snicker and I lowered my ears even more at this, my heart beating so fast.  _ Fuck! _ I thought, panicking even more, and turned quickly on my heel as the dogs laughed and rushed forward with a single bark from the Doberman,  _ “Let’s get him.” _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Kumo sighed in annoyance, running a hand through his hair, ruffling it a little as he looked around. “Ugh, how hard is it to find one black cat in a town like this?” he asked himself, a bit bitter, as he stuck his hands in the pockets of his black jeans. Honestly, he was really starting to get irritated at the other. Ame was always getting lost and always getting himself into trouble. It was like Kumo was saving his ass every other day and it frustrated the demon. _

_ But that’s what he gets for falling for a human such as the little kitten, _ my little kitten, _ he added in his head. But despite what he often found himself thinking, he was actually glad it was Ame that he’d fallen for and not some other human, Spirit, or demon. He loved the Spirit, and his little kitten loved him back, and that was enough for Kumo to keep looking. _

_ Kumo paused, his eyes narrowed and his lips turned down in a mild frown of distaste, when he heard barking in the distance. Truth be told, there was one animal he didn’t much like on Earth: dogs. They were loud, they smelled, and they were particularly annoying. He was most definitely more of a cat person, though he had to admit that Ame had some influence with this.  _ Well, more like cat demon... _ he snickered lightly to himself and shook his head to rid his thoughts. He needed to continued searching for said cat, or else he was going to get nowhere with this. _

_ He sighed again and continued to walk the busy sidewalks to find his precious kit. It was better he walked anyway, not knowing exactly where the kitten was, so he couldn’t very well disappear and poof to wherever Ame was. He’d certainly tried doing that in the past, and that was how he knew it wouldn’t work without having a firm guess or tell of where the cat was lying about this time. _

_ After a bit more searching he finally came to the park, exhausted. “As soon as I find him... he owes me big time,” he said while plopping down on a bench, looking around the area, but he immediately stopped once his red eyes came upon something that spiked his interest, or rather someone. “What the hell is he doing around here?” Kumo growled as he watched his brother, the blonde haired demon, Ite, walking into a crowd of people and disappearing from his sights. _

He’s up to something. _ Kumo thought and he stood up, walking in the direction that his so called brother went; anger was boiling up inside of him, as well as sadness and worry for his little Ame.  _ Damn it, if he so much as to touches you, I will do everything it takes to get you back and kick his sorry ass. _ The vampire pledged, speaking as though he were actually talking to Ame.  _ And when I get you back, I’m never letting you out of my sight, I can promise you that.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Akatsuki growled darkly as she got another arrow ready, her bow poised and positioned right, pointed straight at Sukai. “Have you had enough, stupid snake?” she barked as the other Spirit, her animal a red and blue snake, kneeled on the ground, her weapons in her hands. They’d barely stopped to chat while fighting, but since Sukai changed into her Spirit form, the fox knows well enough what the snake looks like. _

_ Sukai wore a blue short sleeved shirt with red designs and a blue and red skirt as well, in her Spirit form. And upon her feet were light blue sandal-like shoes. On her wrists were two blue bands that had red marks upon them as well and on her left sleeve was a blue and red patch that held a sapphire gem tight in place. _

_ Upon her head were two thin lace-like antennae coming out of her head and a long blue and red snake-like tail fell behind her, limp now upon the ground. Her hair had also changed from dark brown to a blue color with red-tipped bangs. Her weapons were small silver daggers with red and blue designs upon the guards; small blue sapphires sat on the very tips of the leather grips. _

_ “You will not beat me so easily, little kit.” she growled and stood up, wiping the blood from her arm before holding her daggers back up, ready to charge again. _

_ Hana, who was also in her gem form, frowned, eyes wide. “Sukie… stop, you’ll only get hurt if you continue!” she cried out, worried for her big sister, but she wasn’t surprised when Sukai only ignored her and charged forward with a sharp yell, dodging an arrow before being knocked back by another. _

_ Hana’s hair was longer than before, colored light pink now and her eyes shone brighter somehow than before. She wore a bright pink and yellow dress that reached just below her knees and had on light pink boots with a pink pearl gem on the side where her mark was, surrounded by a yellow circle. And on her left leg, she wore a single light pink legging that had a pink dolphin upon it, signifying her Spirit animal. _

_ Upon her own head, replacing her ears were pink and yellow fins and behind her was a long, thin light pink tail that split in two; both ends colored yellow. And in her hands were two light pink and bright yellow guns that each had pearls on both sides of them, as well as on the bottom of the base. _

_ “Hana, stay out of this,” Sukai growled, though, finally providing some form of response and Akatsuki smirked, pulling back another arrow. _

_ “You better listen to her. What she says is very much true,” she taunted and Sukai hissed, baring her now very sharp fangs, gripping her daggers tightly once more. _

_ “I think that little bit of info only... counts... for you!” she snapped as she dashed forward once more and Akatsuki closed her eyes tightly, the smirk only becoming more feral and devious, and she released the arrow. It was only when two shots from a gun was heard that she snapped her eyes wide open, and she and her friends stared wide-eyed at the scene that had played out before them. _


	18. Chapter 17

Panting heavily as I ran through the connected alleys, I let out a sharp frightened ‘mew’ when the tip of my tail barely avoided being caught in the Doberman’s jaws.  _ F-fuck, this place is like a huge maze! _ I shouted in my head and trying to go just a tiny bit faster, but I knew the dogs were gaining on me and it was only a matter of time before I became too worn out to continue running. I mewed frantically, closing my eyes tightly for only a second,  _ “K-kumo! W-where are… y-you!?” _ before opening them again and I nearly skidded to a halt as I turned another corner, seeing a dark silhouette at the mouth of the alley.  _ Person! I... they can help! _

Nearing the figure, my eyes widened, and I couldn’t help the grin that stretched across my muzzle, my small, but sharp fangs showing.

_ “Kumo!” _ I called out, just a little out of breath, but that didn’t matter when I saw him smile at me, his eyes lighting up when he saw me. Running just a little bit faster, I used all the strength I had left to jump up and into his arms, glad when he caught me.  _ “Oh thank God you found me!” _ I nuzzled into his neck and he chuckled, though it wasn’t quite the same as usual, and I pulled back just a little and stared at him with what I figured was confusion swirling in my eyes.  _ “K-kumo…?” _

“I’m glad I’d finally been able to find you, as well, Ame.” he said with a smirk, one of his fangs poking out and I gulped, lowering my ears just a little. “Oh now, don’t be frightened,” he cooed and I almost relaxed, if I hadn’t caught the strange tint to it, “after all, I did come all the way out here just to find you.”

My eyes narrowed and I put my paws on his chest, ears still lowered as I leaned back, trying to figure out what was going on.  _ Something... something doesn’t... this just doesn’t feel right...  _ I thought before freezing up when I remembered the dogs and I turned my head sharply, only to see the three dogs behind us, sitting obediently. And unable to help it, I let out a loud mew of fright and hissed at the dogs, who only growled back at me.

They bowed their heads though when Kumo cleared his throat before tightening his grip around me and I winced a little, squirming in his grip before freezing completely when he spoke, “You are dismissed, my loyal Kiseichu.”

_ “Yes,”  _ they said, simultaneously, _ “master Ite.” _ And almost immediately I started to struggled out of the demon’s grip.  _ N-no! Impossible! _ I cried out in my head before he tightened his grip a little more and I hissed at him.

“Oh what a pity, you now know my real identity.” he said and chuckled darkly, changing back to his original form. I watched as he raised his free hand and when he snapped his fingers, I felt a sharp pain go through my body, letting out a loud, pain-riddled cry.

“Finally,” was the last thing I heard before everything went black.

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Akatsuki was the first to snap from the shocked state she’d been in and she scowled at what she registered. Her arrow was stuck into a tree that was across from where she stood, quivering for a few moments before disappearing completely, and Sukai was on the ground, her hand now covering her arm, blood already staining both her skin and the grass that it dripped down on below her. _

_ Hana was panting heavily, where she stood, her guns raised and she gripped them tightly, her eyes a little wide, but it didn’t take long for them to narrow into a sharp glare. “Damn it Sukai!” she shouted and for a moment, everyone was stunned to hear the young one curse, “You don’t ever listen to me!” she added, terse and tense and Akatsuki bit back a bark of laughter, her bow lowering when Sukai changed back to her normal form. The brunette sat up and glared darkly at Hana, clutching tightly at her still bleeding arm. _

_ “Hana! What the hell was that for!?” she snapped and Hana stiffened up, her guns disappearing now as tears came to her eyes. _

_ “Idiot!” she yelled back, “If I hadn’t done that then you would’ve been killed! All because of your stupid pride!” Sukai froze, eyes wide, before they closed and she sighed, deflating a little. It was a few moments later when her eyes opened again and she looked at her little sister with a small guilty frown. _

_ “I’m sorry Hana, you’re right, I shouldn’t have done that.” she murmured and looked to the ground, the frown only turning to a slight scowl. “You know, all I wanted was a normal life for you,” she said and Akatsuki sighed. _

_ “You’ll have a normal life if you help us,” the fox said and Odori nodded, finally stepping up to the plate as Akatsuki and Hana both changed back. But before the wolf could say anything, Miryoku chimed in with a bright smile. _

_ “Yeah, that’s right!” _

_ “What do you mean by help you?” Sukai asked the four, standing up, though shakily. _

_ Banira only shook her head though and nodded to the snake’s arm. “Let’s get you bandaged up first, and then we’ll explain.” It looked as if Sukai was going to argue, but after a sharp look from Hana and a little snicker from Akatsuki, she finally agreed. _

_ “Alright...” _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ “Help us get rid of the demons and their Kiseichu and you can go back to your normal life,” Odori finally finished explaining, after Banira had finished wrapping up Sukai’s injuries, and the leopard nodded, smiling a little. _

_ “We all can, if we help each other win this battle,” she said softly and Hana smiled too. _

_ “It... sounds easy enough!” She said, though it was obvious she was a bit nervous about it all. No one blamed her, and no one commented on it as she spoke again, looking curiously at the others, “I do have a question though... wasn’t there also another member?” she asked and the other Spirits all looked at each other before answering, slow and hesitant. _

_ “Yeah, about that...-” Akatsuki started, unsure. _

_ “-there is one more, but-.” Banira added, hesitant. _

_ “-he kinda left about an hour or so ago.” Odori finished, sheepish. _

_ Sukai frowned at them, eyes narrowed. “You’re kidding right?” She asked and Akatsuki scowled at her, but refrained from saying anything, especially when the snake continued, “We walked through those doors exactly ‘an hour or so ago’, don’t play around with us.” Miryoku sighed and shook her head, rubbing at the back of her neck, frowning a little as she tried to figure out the best way to respond. _

_ “Well, you see... the reason you didn’t notice him was because he was kind of the cat... that you walked past, when you came in...” she said, ducking her head before looking up, trying to determine what their reactions were. Hana’s was the simplest and the easiest, the one that relaxed Miryoku’s shoulders a bit and Miryoku laughed when Hana squealed. _

_ “So cute!” She giggled and Akatsuki snickered while Odori and Banira giggled back. _

_ Sukai’s eye twitched though and she scoffed. “Are you fucking serious? You’re joking right? There’s no way that a Spirit could be a cat, much less that tiny black one that we’d passed.” She huffed and Akatsuki outright laughed. _

_ “Ha! You should’ve seen my reaction when I first found out who he was. I just thought he was a cat, until he spoke and told me who he was. He’s actually very much human, though, but apparently he’s the only one who changes into his spirit animal and it’s only when it’s a full moon.” She explained, shrugging his shoulders and Sukai only frowned in confusion. When Sukai didn’t say anything more, Miryoku continued with a sigh. _

_ “Yes well, he was supposed to be back by now, along with his boyfriend.” she hummed and Sukai tensed up, eyes narrowed. _

_ “Boyfriend?” she questioned, her voice a bit rough, and Odori narrowed her eyes, jumping straight to conclusions. _

_ “What? Are you a homophobe or something?” she barked, crossing her arms and Sukai flinched, rubbing at the back of her neck when she noted Akatsuki’s glare and Banira’s concerned gaze. Miryoku was only looking at her with that calculating frown and truth be told, it unnerved her. _

_ “N-no, not really…” she said, hoping to get back on their somewhat good sides, “it’s just, the idea of two boys bothers me just a bit.” She sighed, realizing that was probably not the greatest thing to say, but luckily Hana spoke up. _

_ “Her last boyfriend turned out to be gay...” the dolphin explained with a hesitant smile and Odori frowned, but finally nodded in understanding while Akatsuki snickered and Banira giggled. _

_ “But, never mind that, if he’s not here, then where is he?” Sukai said, changing the subject just a tad bit, though she was honestly curious. But she didn’t have to wait long, as, before any of the other girls could answer her, Kai stumbled into the room with Hai and Doreiku behind him. Hai panted heavily and leaned up against the wall when he realized that the girls were all here, barely sparing Sukai and Hana a glance, as Kai fell face first onto the floor, nearly tripping Doreiku. _

_ “Oh thank the Gods!” Doreiku said, all in a rush and Miryoku frowned, the first to turn towards them. _

_ “Kai? Doreiku? What’s going on?” She asked, regarding Hai with only a mildly concerned glare before turning her attention fully to the blonde. Kai looked up at her with sad, pitiful golden eyes as Doreiku spoke. _

_ “Kai’s link to Ame has been disrupted,” he said, quick and sharp and Miryoku tensed. _

_ “What does that mean?” _

_ “It means that he can’t feel him anywhere, and if he can’t feel him,” Hai growled out, “then that means someone has temporarily cut the link themselves, he’s in another dimension, or he’s dead!” _

_ “I’m just going to hit the ball back and assume that’s bad, right?” Sukai grimaced, eyes a little wide and she stood up, hands clenching. “So he’s the cat?” Kai growled a little at her but then nodded in answer and she frowned, unused to any of this. Hana was also feeling a bit strange, rubbing at her arm and fidgeting where she stood. _

_ “W-what do we do?” she asked and Akatsuki growled, eyes narrowed. _

_ “We assume that Ame’s been taken by that bastard Ite and go find and kick the demon’s ass.” she answered, clutching tightly now at her gem as she pictured kicking Ite’s face into the ground.  _ I’d just love to see that bastard try and take Ame again after that... _ she thought viciously. _

_ “W-who’s Ite?” Hana asked, though she had no idea if it was the right question at the moment. She was glad that Odori answered her, either way. _

_ “He’s one of the demon’s we told you about, only he’s sort of the ring leader of them all. If he gets his hands on Ame, then... it could mean that Ame is as good as dead...” she murmured and Hana gasped, eyes wide now. Sukai flinched and diverted her gaze to the ground as Hai spoke up. _

_ “I agree with Akatsuki. Ame’s got to be unconscious somewhere, and if he’s unconscious, that means Ite most likely has his hands on him now.” he said with a frown and Doreiku shook his head. _

_ “This just means that we need to find him, and find him fast.” The blonde said, walking closer to them and Miryoku let out a frustrated yell. _

_ “Damn it! I knew he shouldn’t have left!” she seethed and then glared at the door. “Where the hell is Kumo when you need him!? He should’ve been here by now!” _

_ “My guess is that Kumo is either already with Ite,” this had both Akatsuki and Miryoku glaring at Hai, as a low growl was heard from Odori and Kai, and he quickly continued, “or he’s well on his way to retrieving the cat!” _

_ “I’m gonna kill him!” Akatsuki shouted out in anger and frustration, and none of them were entirely certain if she was talking about Ite or Kumo. Not that Hai cared. The girls all knew his opinion, as did Kumo; even if Ame still remained utterly oblivious to how much he hated his boyfriend.  _ I have no doubt in my mind that Kumo is going to save Ame, despite that I think he still has dubious intentions.  _ He thought, a little bitter, but he voiced none of this to the already fuming Spirits before him. _

_ Odori closed her eyes then and her growl only grew fiercer, “I swear if Ite hurts Ame, I will personally kick his sorry ass off of this planet and make him go back to where he came from.” _

_ “Odori…” They all turned, each surprised and startled, when they heard Kumo’s voice, having not even heard him walk through the doors, “they’re going to do more than hurt him...” His head was lowered and his hands were clenched tight, his shoulders shaking and everyone knew, even Sukai, that he was trying to control his anger and sadness. Sukai noticed then, clenched tightly in one of his hands, a thin black lace with two golden bells and she frowned, wondering if that belonged to Ame at all. Miryoku recognized it though and she felt tears stinging her eyes.  _ This only confirms it then... Ite really did take Ame... _ she thought, taking a step towards the vampire. _

_ “Kumo... I’m so sorry.” Miryoku said softly and he shook his head sharply, raising one hand to grip tightly at his hair and it looked as if he was standing on his last pair of legs. _

_ “D-damn it,” he cursed, trembling visibly now and even Hai felt a sharp pinch to his chest, “I should’ve followed him. I...” tears dropped to the grass below him, “I  _ promised _ him I would protect him!” he suddenly snapped and he looked up at the others with pure anger in his blood red eyes, the tears evident now as they leaked from his eyes and crawled down his pale cheeks. _

_ Miryoku took in a deep sigh, deciding to be the voice of reason as the group all hung their heads. Akatsuki and Odori were comforting Banira as the leopard tried not to cry, and Sukai and Hana were standing off to the side, unsure what to do while Hai stood with his head turned to the side. Doreiku knelt down to pet the whimpering wolf, as Miryoku finally chose to speak up, “Then Kumo,” she started with a soft voice, “it’s time for you to keep your promise and fight for him.” She continued to walk towards him now and rested her hands upon his shoulders, jade eyes staring into blood red. “Help us get him back, help us win the battle.” As she said this the others looked up, aside from Sukai and Hana, and nodded their heads in agreement, each, though, watching as Kumo closed his eyes tightly and then he opened them again. Miryoku stepped back as a feral grin stretched across his lips and he held out his hands, summoning his blades. _

_ “Gladly,” he growled out and Miryoku only smirked,  _ Let’s go get our little Ame back, then...

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ The moon slowly rose as the day quickly turned to night and Ite sighed deeply as he walked along the broken cement, his silver steeled gaze resting upon the golden bubble that was formed around Ame’s now human figure, the link broken and his Spirit shattered for the time being. Attached to the bubble were two gold tubes that hooked up to a device below it and Ite narrowed his eyes, coming to stop only a few feet from the bubble. He was frowning now, as thoughts ran through his mind, taking place of most everything, but he knew one thing for certain: _ Everything is almost complete.  _ His frown quickly turned to a sharp grin when Ame stirred, blinking open clouded golden eyes swirling with confusion and pain and fear. “Ah, so you’ve finally awoken?” he questioned as his brothers, Rekkusu and Taiyo joined him. _

_ Letting out a shaky breath, Ame looked up, moving his a little and clenching it against the bubble as he tried to regain his bearings. He was surprised to see that he was in his human form, rather than a cat. _ I... I still had one night left... _ he thought dazedly. When Ite laughed at him, his eyes narrowed and he growled slowly. “I-ite, you... you bastard...” he spat, tasting bile in his mouth and he grimaced, trying to slow it down before speaking again. “W-what the hell did you do…?” he bit out and Ite laughed again, tilting his head to the side and lifting his chin up just a tad bit as he regarded the Spirit before him. _

_ “Oh nothing, yet, I assure you,” he practically purred and walked towards the bubble before putting his hand up in the air and placing it on the bubble, making a few transparent screens appear and he pressed what looked like buttons, swiping his fingers across a few other screens before it all disappeared. Not even a second later, a visible charge was sent through the bubble, as Ame tried standing up on shaky legs. When the jolt reached him, he collapsed to his knees with a sharp cry of pain. His arms wrapped around his stomach and his head was lowered, his hair falling over his face and hiding his expression from the demons before him. Ite could barely hold back the snicker, a smirk upon his face at seeing this. “Good to know that it is working,” he said, truly having no remorse for hurting his little brother’s pet.  _ He’ll get over it soon enough and find a new pet to play with, I’m sure.

_ “We only have to wait now,” Rekkusu smirked, speaking what was on the other’s minds, though Taiyo squirmed uncomfortably where he stood, “before we will be able to restore our home.” _

_ “Yes,” Ite turned his head towards the ghost, “and then we will be able to go home and we’ll be called hero’s.” Ite was pleased when that got a smile to appear on the firebird’s face, if only just a little one, before he chuckled, low and easy. “Hn, I wonder where our dear brother is...?” _

_ Rekkusu scowled then and scrunched his nose up, “Who the fuck gives a damn about him!? He’s nearly ruined everything for us and if he shows up now, he’ll-” he was cut off by none other than the very vampire of their thoughts and they all whirled around to see Kumo standing there, swords in hand, fangs bared and his eyes narrowed, his entire being screaming bloody murder. _

_ “Ite, get the hell away from him.” Rekkusu barked out a laugh, seeing the vampire standing there alone, at the crumbled entrance of the old temple. But before he could say anything in return, to taunt or insult him, Ame had looked up at Kumo’s voice and he let out a sharp gasp. _

_ “K-kumo!” Ame shouted, eyes wide and he smiled brightly, but his smile vanished when another jolt tore through him and his forehead fell to the base of the bubble before him. “K-kumo…” he whimpered, not knowing what else to do, “i-it hurts…” He knew he sounded pathetic, weak... but he couldn’t help it and the pain was tearing him to pieces from the inside out. He couldn’t use his gem and he felt broken and torn, almost like he wasn’t even himself.  _ I-I don’t understand... w-what’s happening? Why does it hurt so much...?

_ “Ame!” Kumo took a step forward, panicked when he heard his kitten cry out in pain, “Hold on, I’ll get you out of there!” He said sharply and then growled, turning to Ite. “Ite, let him go or I swear to the stars that I’ll kill you!” he demanded. _

_ “I’d very much love to see you try, my dear little brother.” his brother's gaze narrowed at him and Kumo copied the glare as he heard the sickly sweet tone that Ite used. He barely even registered that the girls had finally managed to show up, coming to his sides and he refrained from commenting. He figured Hai made them late, the bastard. Always doing something or other to piss Kumo off,  _ Just like him, it is... _ he thought bitterly. _

_ “Ite,” Akatsuki barked out, just itching to use her gem, “you sick bastard, let Ame go!” _

_ “Oh but, you see, I’m going to have to say no,” he smirked, “to that little request, pretty little kitsune.” he hummed and tilted his head up, delighting when he saw Akatsuki grab out her gem,  _ Yes, little fox, show me just how much you’d like to tear me apart and you might just end up joining the little kitten. Goodness knows that we need a little Abera as well as Kuzui.

_ “Fuck you Ite! Leave us the hell alone!” she shouted and Ite laughed, holding his arms out wide. _

_ “Such anger, now I’m sure we can work something out, can’t we?” he asked them, a wide smirk on his face. _

_ “No!”Akatsuki snapped, as Odori, Banira, and Miryoku grabbed out there gems, preparing to change at any moment's notice. Ame let out a pitiful whine, glad that his friends were trying to set him free, but could they perhaps do that a little faster? _

_ “W-will someone… just get me… o-out of here!” he pleaded, hissing a little and the other’s looked at him as if just now noticing that he was there. In that moment, they all shouting their gem names, each changing into their Spirit form before summoning their weapons, ready to fight. No one expected, least of all Ame, the addition of two other voices as Sukai and Hana quickly and effectively changed into their own Spirit forms. _

_ “We wanna help,” Sukai said and Akatsuki grinned, for once pleased at the sight of Sukai’s daggers, before turning back to Ite. _

_ Odori and Banira sent them a smile of thanks, “Thank you.” The wolf said and the dolphin smiled back as the snake grinned wide and sharp. _

_ “Bring it on Ite!” Akatsuki finally shouted at him and he snickered, smirking at the petty little group before him.  _ Oh dear brother, how you’ve fallen… to even bother to help such… pathetic humans. _ He thought with a little forlorn sigh, gaze directed at Kumo while he spoke. _

_ “Na ah ah,” he grinned and finally held his hand out, palm facing up, and he allowed a small golden sphere to form in his hand. He smirked when Kumo’s eyes narrowed and the vampire stepped forward. “Now it’s time for you spirits to finally get a taste of a small part of what I can really do.” _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ D-damn it… what can I do…? _ I thought, closing my eyes for a single moment as I panted heavily, my breath ghosting against the surface of the bubble, and I opened them again. The answer I already knew. I could do literally nothing but watch my friends, as they stood there, weapons poised and ready. Even the other two,  _ How my friends they managed to convince them to come along is anybodies guess, _ I added, before focusing on Kumo. I wanted to do something, anything, even if it was just to shout at them.

But, this pain I was feeling was killing me… It felt as if my insides were being melted, before being taken right out of me. I could both see and feel the little jolts and every so often, black dust swirled around me before disappearing and I didn’t know what was happening. The bubble, or whatever the hell it was, sent another visible charge of electricity towards me and I screamed out in pain.  _ S-someone… please… _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Ite let out a loud laugh at the pain that the cat was in as Rekkusu snickered; the two paid no mind as Taiyo squirmed, clutching at his hands, and Ite crushed the sphere before throwing his hand out and Kumo tensed, jumping back just in time to avoid being caught within the web of golden-white light. _

_ “Ah!” Odori and Banira screamed as Akatsuki and Miryoku cursed, the four caught within the light and not even seconds after, a giant mirror appeared, thanks to Rekkusu’s help and they were thrown inside it, unknowing what was going on. _

_ “Ite!” Kumo shouted and the blonde only grinned sharply, making a pure black feather appear within his grasp, obsidian dust swirling around it and the vampire could do nothing but watch as the feather disappeared into a thousand particles when a single gust of breath blew at it. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Akatsuki was the first to fall, collapsing onto the group with a sharp oof and a pained cry before groaning. She opened her eyes and let out a noise of choked surprise, barely managing to roll out of the way as Odori and Banira collapsed on top of each other, the leopard squashed by the wolf. Miryoku was the last to land, but she, somehow, managed to gracefully turn and land somewhat on her feet, stumbling just a little as Akatsuki let out a snicker at her friends. “Cats always land on their feet, huh? Even the bird landed better than you, Nira,” she barked out in laughter and Odori smiled sheepishly as she got off of Banira when the leopard whined. _

_ The wolf offered her hand and pulled the other up as Miryoku decided to look around. There… wasn’t anything to look at, actually. It was all just an empty void of white space. She wouldn’t have even known there was a ground at all if there wasn’t a thin layer of fog where they stood. “Come on, we need to-” turning to her friends, she was cut off sharply when a sharp gust of wind blew all around them, carrying with it millions of black particles that swirled around the four Spirits. _

_ They huddled close together, wide or narrowed eyes watching as the dust finally pulled together, taking shape of a creature, almost as large as the lake, it seemed. Standing on four, long, thick, scaly legs with four large, incredibly big paws with very sharp claws, was a very large, very mean looking dragon. Its hide was as black as night with not a single other color to be found and it looked as tough as steel; along its back were long, sharp spines that led all the way to the tip of its very long sharp-spaded tail. And its head was as big and ugly as the rest of it, with several long, sharp black horns and a vicious snarling mouth full of glowing green slobber and hundreds of long, sharp teeth. Its eyes though, were what had even Miryoku freezing in fear: glowing green and without any pupils, as if the creature itself was without life. _

_ And yet, here is stood, fully materialized now, even as dust continued to swirl around them, and it took one giant step forward before letting out the loudest, most terrifying roar any of them had ever heard. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

I kept slipping in and out of consciousness, barely aware of what was going on around me, but I tried to stay awake, for my friends’ sake. Placing my head against the bubble’s surface, I barely held back a choked whimper when a small jolt passed through me and I looked up. What I saw had me wishing that I never left the café.

Akatsuki, Odori, Banira, and Miryoku were gone from the temple grounds and I saw that they were instead inside the mirror that I’d not noticed there before. That fact wasn’t what scared me; it was that they weren’t alone… facing off against the scariest beast I’d ever seen. A dragon I thought couldn’t possibly exist in real life.  _ Ha, right… just like the giant ass snake all those months ago, _ I barely managed a scoff along with the thought and had to force myself to tear my gaze away from the mirror, instead focusing on what else was happening.  _ K-kumo… _

I watched as things escalated and soon enough everyone was fighting. The girl with the pink hair was fighting against Taiyo, fire versus water it seemed, and the one with the blue and red hair was fighting against Rekkusu, the ghost having a slightly larger advantage due to his ability to disappear and phase through things. Not to mention his sword was larger than her own daggers.

I whimpered when my gaze fell to Kumo, the vampire shouting profanities that I couldn’t catch as he attacked Ite again and again. While Ite just stood there, bow out and ready for when he truly needed it, with that smirk on his face and he kept laughing and taunting Kumo and I couldn’t take it anymore.

Curling up tighter into my little ball, I had hoped to relieve some of my pain, but none of what I did helped any. Trying to take deep breaths, I let them out continuously, trying not to tense heavily as jolts continued to go through me, though little as they are. I was waiting… waiting for the next one that would have me feeling like I was being ripped apart.

Closing my eyes as my vision began to get fuzzy again, the pain only grew and not even seconds after, I felt it. The pain struck through me and I let out a broken cry, tears crawling down my cheeks now.  _ I… I can’t take it anymore…! _ I thought, unable to help it.  _ It’s too much… _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Kumo growled darkly, glaring at Ite as his brother finally decided to stop playing around, firing several arrows at him and the vampire dodged them, continuously jumping or shifting out of the way and he was getting sick of it. _

_ Dashing forward and knocking an arrow out of his way, he slashed his swords at the other demon, at his  _ brother _. “Ite! Stop this! We can find another way!” He pleaded and jumped back again when Ite scowled and shot an arrow that whizzed past him, dangerously close to the vampire’s head. _

_ “I am done trying to find another way!” he snapped, “We are healing our planet using the Kuzui your pathetic little toy has and when we return home, everything will go back to normal!” _

_ “That wasn’t normal!” Kumo seethed, furious that Ite had called Ame both pathetic and a toy. He wasn’t either, damn it! “We led a life of ruin and misery, that’s all that it was!” Before he could say anything more, he was stopped by the pained cry from the captive kitten within the bubble and he felt his heart break at the sound.  _ I have to end this! _ “Ite…” he growled and turned his attention yet again to his smirking brother, “let him go!” _

_ “Tell me why I would possibly do that when we are so close Kumo!” Ite demanded, his silver colored eyes showing furious confusion, hope, excitement, and curiosity. Kumo shook his head and pushed the dragon back, throwing out his arm. _

_ “You’re going to kill him!” he tried to reason,  _ our home isn’t worth this! _ , but Ite only let out a cold laugh, a sneer on his lips. _

_ “You’re worried about one measly human’s life?!” Ite bristled, glaring at his brother. “You should be more worried about your own people rather than them! The stupid humans are not whom we have to deal with, they are not who we have to take care of! You would rather protect, a pathetic, weak, little cat than save your home!? Your kingdom!?” _

_ “So what if I am!?” Kumo growled. “I care more about that one measly human,” he spat out the words, “than I ever have about my own people, my own home, and my own family!” _

_ Ite’s glare turned more fierce at those words. “You’ll regret ever saying that to me,  _ little brother _...” he hissed and jumped back as he readied another arrow. Kumo only glared back, crossing his blades, and he readied himself for the next attack.  _ One way or another… I’ll save Ame. _ he thought,  _ Even if that means going through you to do so… Ite…

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ “How are you holding up sis?” Sukai breathed out, sparing Hana a glance as she jumped back away from another attack. The white haired demon was relentless, a vicious smirk on his face and whenever he managed to take her back a step, he let out a laugh, taunting her. It was starting to piss her off, but that was the least of her worries now. _

_ “I-I’m fine…” Hana panted out as she shot a few more bullets at the red haired demon while dodging funnels of fire that were pointed at her. “B-but I don’t know… how much longer I’ll be able… to hold…” she finished up. _

_ “Neither do I.” Sukai growled out, throwing a dagger at the demon before her and jumping when when he brought down his blade after dodging the dagger. _

_ “Heh, for Spirits, you two sure are weak!” the white haired demon taunted. _

_ “What… ever!” Sukai snapped as she hit the ghost boy in his side and knocked him to the ground and she jumped back again, barely dodging a funnel of fire. She heard a scream behind her and turned just in time to see Hana being knocked back, her dress scorched, and one of her guns were thrown onto the ground when she fell. “Hana!” Hana panted heavily and whimpered when she tried to sit up, both of her guns disappearing now, and she collapsed again, eyes closed tight in pain. _

_ “Stupid humans!” Sukai turned back around with wide eyes as the ghost demon swung his blade and the sword caught her stomach, forcing her back harshly against one of the crumbled temple walls. She barely managed to hold back a scream and she slid down the wall, an arm curled tightly around her stomach, as if to protect if from anymore harm. _

_ “D-damn it…” she hissed, her antennae twitching and she put a hand against the wall, standing up slow and shaky as she looked back up at the demons before her. “You… you bastards will pay for… hurting my little sis…” she seethed then and clutched tight at the only dagger she had in her hand. _

_ “Oh will we?” the ghost smirked and watched her with delighted pleasure in his lilac eyes when she stood to her full height. His brother frowned though and took a sharp step back, his shoulders bunched up and he glanced at the ghost with uncertainty and uneasiness in his own fiery red eyes. _

_ “Rekkusu, I think that maybe we should not fight her anymore…” he tried to say, but Rekkusu only scoffed, slashing his blade through the air in a show of cocky pride. _

_ “Or what?” he smirked before letting out a choked noise of surprise when he was suddenly pinned to the ground, Sukai above him. She was glaring darkly at him now with two of her daggers crossed at his neck, dangerously close to cutting him. _

_ “Or this.” She growled out, a possesive and protective look in her eyes. She watched from the corner of her eyes as Hana got up slowly and the dolphin summoned her Spirit Weapons with a muttered whisper of their name. She raised her arms and finally aimed the guns at the red haired demon that was slowly backing away from Sukai, a frightened look upon his face. _

_ “D-dolphin Blast…!” she shouted, her voice broken, and she pulled the triggers on both of her weapons. Not even seconds after, a large sphere made of crystal water was sent right at him and he barely had enough time to react before the attack hit its mark. Thrown back against an old statue of a dragon from the force of the blast, the statue, what was left of it, crumbled and he fell to the ground. _

_ He made no move to get up and Rekkusu bristled, “Taiyo!” he shouted before turning sharp, narrowed eyes back to Sukai and he hissed at her. “Fuck you, you’ll pay for that!” _

_ When he disappeared, Sukai stumbled in shock and surprise before standing up and she looked around frantically. “Where the hell did he go!?” She shouted before wincing and she collapsed to the ground on her knees, her hands going to the injury upon her stomach, the wound bothering her more than she thought it would. “D-damn… t-this is so not good…” she winced again, putting pressure upon it, before looking up when she heard her name. _

_ “S-sukai!” Hana gasped out, backed against the wall, with Rekkusu towering above her trembling and weak form. He scowled darkly at her, his sword raised and poised for an attack. _

_ “No! You bastard!” Sukai shouted, struggling to get up, “Get away… from her!” she shouted and gripped one of her blades tightly before throwing it at the demon. “V-venom’s Kiss…!” the snake shouted but she fell forward when the movement caused a jolt of pain to run through her and her vision became fuzzy.  _ D-damn it, no… I-I have to… stay… awake… _ her world darkened and she collapsed onto the stone ground below her, a sharp cry the only thing she heard before following Taiyo into the abyss of darkness. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

Everything was falling apart before my eyes. Taiyo and the snake were both collapsed upon the stone, hurt and exhausted, having fainted or passed out. The dolphin was barely on her own last legs, leaning heavily against the wall that threatened to give out beneath her. And Rekkusu was on the ground on his knees, the dagger that Sukai had thrown out sticking out from his back, the dagger seeming to glow with something that caused the ghost pain with every little movement.

The tears were falling again, and I didn’t bother to try and stop them. I didn’t have the energy to. All I could do was watch and try to stay awake for them. I didn’t know what would happen if I fell asleep again, I didn’t know if I would wake up if I did.  _ S-stop… please… _ I pleaded, tired of watching them all fight. This was all happening because of me; they were all fighting to either protect me or use me.

Kumo was still fighting with Ite, neither seeming to give up; but both having a purpose… a reason for fighting. The vampire was fighting to protect me, to get me back and his brother was fighting to protect his home, to restore what he once called his.

I cried out again and curled up tighter, closing my eyes and whimpering when the jolts continued. The dust continued to circle around me, but I cared not for them and instead tried to focus on anything but the pain. Anything but what was happening now.  _ T-this isn’t fair… it isn’t right. _ I thought, cracking one eye open and I looked back at Kumo.  _ K-kumo… _

I had to make it right, I had to stop this… but I already knew… I couldn’t.


	19. Chapter 18

_ “Lilac Thorns!” Odori shouted as she slashed her whip through the air, aiming it at the dragon before them. The sharp thorns, created as the whip whooshed through the air, few towards the beast, hitting the dragon’s flesh and disappearing upon contact. _

_ “Blizzard Winds!” Banira did the same thing, not seconds later, with her weapons. Waving her fans around, she created large, sharp hail storms that blew directly towards the Kiseichu. _

_ “Feather’s Rage!” Miryoku slashed her claws through the air and created multiple slices that aimed towards her foe as Akatsuki pulled up her bow. _

_ “Fox Arrow!” she summoned an arrow and pointed at the dragon, releasing it, but her arrow only disappeared upon contact to the beast's hide. The dragon took off then, flying into the now dark red sky and it flapped its wings harshly, blowing the four girls back against the ground, each of their weapons disappearing. _

_ “This is ridiculous!” Odori shouted, her ears laid back and her tail twitching. _

_ “No kidding… nothing we do seems to affect the damn thing!” Akatsuki growled out, wiping the back of her hand against her mouth, her own ears laid back. _

_ Miryoku stood up then and let out a puff of breath, “Guys, why don’t we combine our powers?” she suggested, but before the others could even consider the idea, the dragon landed on the ground with a loud crash that shook the ground beneath them and it swiped one of its large paws at them. The four barely managed to jump away in time, though one of the sharp claws did manage to catch Odori’s tail. _

_ “O-ow!” she barked, her hands flying to her tail and she pulled it close to her, ears lowered fully now, and she glared at the dragon before summoning her weapon once more and she jumped up in the air, spinning around, bringing her whip with her, “Lilac Thorns!” she practically growled and the thorns hit the dragon’s muzzle, causing it to rear back and shake its head fiercely, as if it’d only been bothered by a little bug that landed on it’s nose. _

_ Miryoku only huffed again and summoned her claws before jumping up onto the dragon’s tail and she latched onto it, digging under the dragon’s scales as it shook its tail around harshly, growling in pain. “Ha! Not so tough under the scales, now are you!?” she barked out in laughter, clearly taunting the giant beast, and she made sure to hang on tight. _

_ The dragon only roared out in anger before opening its jaws wide, facing towards Miryoku, her eyes wide as she saw red flares coming from his mouth. She was only barely shoved out of the way by Odori and the two landed harshly on the ground as a large funnel of fire was spit out, scorching the spot where Miryoku once had been. The dragon wasn’t even bothered that it was its own scales that it torched. _

_ “Bird-brain, you were supposed to move.” Odori growled out and Miryoku finally snapped from her surprised state, grinning sheepishly at the other. _

_ “Sorry...” she mumbled while getting up with the silver wolf and they quickly moved out of the way when the dragon slammed a paw down on the ground they had been standing upon only moments before. “Damn...” she growled and sliced her claws through the air again, repeating her attacks. _

_ The dragon didn’t know who to focus on as each attacked from a different side. It chose to focus on the little leopard that was bouncing around in front of it, lowering its head and it blew out a funnel of fire that was directed towards her. “Blizzard Winds!” Banira barely managed to shout out, knocking back the fire that was blown in her direction. She cringed, however, as the heat got to her through her attacks and she jumped out of the way once more, avoiding another funnel that she couldn’t block in time with her own ice and snow. _

_ Odori growled as she twirled her whip around her body to aim the sharp thorns of her attack at the dragon's flank as Akatsuki jumped into the air, releasing several arrows, one after the other, at the Kiseichu’s head, each arrow disappearing upon contact with it’s hide. The fox growled in disbelief, “That’s impossible!” she shouted out, just before her eyes went wide and she was knocked out of the air with a hard swipe of the dragon’s tail. _

_ “Akatsuki!” Odori shouted as she saw her friend go down with a loud thump, her weapon disappearing. The fox panted heavily, grimacing as she tried to get up, but it seemed as if she wasn’t going to in time, as she dragon eyed her with narrowed glowing eyes, before opening its muzzle wide. The other four watched with horror upon their expressions as the fire built up from within the dragon, smoke releasing from the side’s of its muzzle. _

_ “No!” Banira and Odori shouted in unison as Miryoku jumped up onto the dragon’s tail and ran along its back. Coming up to its head, she grabbed onto it with her claws, digging one underneath its scales. Reaching the other claw over, she slashed at the one of its eyes, causing it to rear back again with a pained roar and she barely managed to keep her grip, holding on tightly so she didn’t fall. _

_ Odori and Banira ran over to help Akatsuki get up and ran from the dragon's view when the beast reared back and Akatsuki panted as she saw Miryoku jump down to meet with them. “So… what were you going to say then… about combining our powers?” she huffed out, breathless and Miryoku smirked, delighted by the idea. _

_ “You want to hear my idea then?” she asked, grinning wide now, and the other three nodded. “Alright, then listen up.” _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Kumo growled harshly as his blades crossed at Ite’s neck, “Damn it Ite! Turn it off! You’re going to kill him!” he shouted at his brother who only glared at him in return and growled with equal harshness back at him. _

_ “Why Kumo!? Why should I do that?! We are so close to our goal! We will finally be able to go ho-” he was cut off when Kumo hit him, his fists balled up and his weapons now gone from sight. _

_ “Fuck you!” he bristled, “If it means that I’ll lose the one I love the most,” he trembled, “ then I don’t want to go home!” Over and over, he kept hitting the other, till his knuckles were bruised and bloodied and Ite’s face was the nearly the same. _

_ Ame looked up then, hearing this, and he stared at the two with wide eyes in shock and fear. The vampire’s fists connected with Ite’s face at a quick rate that seemed to never stop and the cat let out a sharp whimper. He cringed when he heard a sharp crack and he placed his hands against the bubble. “K-Kumo... stop!” He took a deep breath and tried his best not to cry when Kumo didn’t stop his rage. “D-damn it!” He cursed, when the pain distracted him momentarily, and he closed his eyes tightly before opening them again and he let out a shaky breath. “K-kumo… y-you stupid, p-perverted, bastard of a… a vampire! I-I said stop!” he shouted finally out at the top of his lungs, closing his eyes tightly once more when the tears fell and another charge was sent through him. It was sharper this time and he thought for a moment that he didn’t have anything left of whatever was being taken from him, nausea taking over him and he fell against the bubble, his head resting against the bubble’s surface.  _ I-it’s… it’s surprising cool… against my head… I… I feel like I’m burning up, _ he thought, cracking his eyes open once more and he blearily looked at the demons. _

_ Ame almost thought that Kumo wouldn’t stop, his fists still connecting with Ite’s bruised and bloodied cheeks, but after another punch to Ite’s bloodied face, he froze. “A-ame...?” he choked out before looking up at the bubble that his precious kitten was held within. The cat let out a broken sigh of relief and he panted heavily, lowering his head as he cringed in pain and Kumo paled when he saw the other, in so much pain, and he stood up, sharply, staggering over to the bubble as quickly as he could. “Ame!” he knelt down to where he faced his lover. “Ame, just hold on, I’ll get you out...” he sighed in frustration and glared at his brother, “somehow.” he added and cursed himself, not knowing how to work the controls on the device.  _ I wish I’d paid attention when Ite told us how to work it, but… I can’t worry about that now.  _ he thought, worried when he saw Ame send him a little smile, weak and worn out. _

_ “Kumo...” he said his name softly and Kumo turned his head back to his kit. _

_ “Ame?” he answered weakly, worried because of how Ame looked. His voice was harsh sounding and raspy and his skin was paler than usual. Even his eyes, that pretty golden color, had lost some of their light. _

_ “D-don’t worry about… about me,” he murmured, “I-I’m fine... okay?” Scooting his hand up, he placed it where Kumo’s own was, wincing slightly at the movement. _

_ Kumo shook his head sharply, then, scowling, “Damn it, Ame-” he cut himself off when the kitten closed his eyes tightly in pain and let out small whimpers. He watched as the other removed his hand before wrapping it around his waist again. “Ame!” Kumo shouted, desperate now, “H-hey, just hang in there! Please… just… hang in there…!” _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ “Are you guys ready?” Miryoku grinned when the others nodded and she nodded towards Banira, who took that as her cue. She ran towards the dragon’s front and waved her fans around, jumping and dancing around to catch its attention. _

_ “Hey dragon, look at me!” she called out and the dragon hissed at her, lowering its head and narrowing its eyes at her when it saw the leopard. “Eep!” Banira shrieked as the beast began moving towards her, heavy steps shaking the ground as its body lumbered in her direction. _

_ “Shit...! Banira!” Akatsuki shouted at her as the dragon lowered its head and blew out a thick funnel of fire that was headed right for the leopard. “Look out!” Banira let out a terrified yelp, rolling just in time to dodge the fire, but the majority of the heat got to her. She collapsed onto her knees on the ground, clutching at her arm and she had her eyes closed tightly, not even noticing that the dragon still had its attention locked on her. _

_ “Banira!” Odori howled when the dragon twisted its body around, bringing its tail with it and Banira couldn’t even look up in time to know what hit her, her fans flying from her hands. Hitting the ground, hard, ten feet away with the force of the blow, she let out a pained grunt, shifting almost immediately back into her human form. _

_ “Great, there goes our plan A.” Miryoku cursed at herself, glancing worriedly at the leopard before turning back to the others. “Akatsuki,” she directed, earning the fox’s attention, “we still need you to do your part.” _

_ Akatsuki nodded, hesitant and she gripped her bow tightly, sparing a glance at Banira as well before turning back. “R-right...” _

_ Miryoku glanced sideways at Odori and nodded quickly before jumping onto the dragon’s back once again. “Keep him distracted Akatsuki!” she called down to the fox and Akatsuki nodded once again before going to do just that, being mindful of the dragon’s paws and its head. The peacock ran along the dragon’s back and got to its head once more, waiting for it to open its mouth wide while Odori dashed underneath the dragon to where it couldn’t see her. Gripping her whip tightly, she waited for the perfect moment to strike, to hold up her end of the plan, just as Miryoku was. _

_ Akatsuki gulped as she ran out in front of the dragon in order to gain its attention. She lowered her ears as she saw it turn its head toward her with a low growl. Blowing smoke at her, it opened its jaws wide, revealing several sharp white fangs and a long, sharp pink tongue that flicked out just before its mouth filled with the red-hot flames that would soon be directed towards her. “A-any time now!” she said shakily as she saw Odori and Miryoku still waiting. _

_ The wolf smirked and slashed her whip out into the air as the dragon’s head lowered to the ground, just enough for her to do what she wanted to, and she watched as her weapon wrapped itself around the lower jaw of its victim. The whip tied itself without needing its carrier to do so and she grinned sharply. Up top, Miryoku grinned as well and felt as the dragon close its mouth at the contact and she latched her claws into the dragon's snout, pulling back as hard as she could. Using her strength, she made to open the dragon’s mouth so Akatsuki could do what she needed to. _

_ Odori closed her eyes tightly and pulled on her weapon with all her strength, grunting at the strain of it as the dragon tried to fight the hold. “Now Akatsuki! Do it now!” she growled out the words and cracked one eye open to glance at the fox. She was pleased when she saw that Akatsuki had her up and ready, five arrows ready to be fired all at once. _

_ Akatsuki pulled back the arrows with fierce determination and she smirked. “Good bye dragon!” she barked out before finally releasing the arrows, a bright red aura surrounding them, each twirling around the other before forming one giant arrow. “Vulpes Fury!” she called out into the air as the arrow struck inside the dragon’s vulnerable un-scaled mouth. _

_ “Yes! Way to go Aka!” Miryoku called out and she sat back from where she was sitting, grinning wide. It was only when the dragon roared out in agony, rearing back, that she began to panic, trying to unlatch her claws. “F-fuck!” _

_ “M-miryoku! Get does from there!” Odori howled, her whip disappearing from her hands as she watched the dragon do so, its tail lashing out furiously and its wings stretching out wide. The dragon immediately lifted up into the air and Miryoku was finally able to detach her claws, her weapons disappearing when she stumbled, eyes wide as she gripped one of the dragons spines tightly. _

_ “Shit!” she clenched her teeth tightly and her grip only tightened as the dragon flapped its wings heavily; the roar became deafening now and heat surrounded her when she realized that the dragon was releasing funnel after funnel of hot fire in its agonizing fury. “H-help!” she shouted out, her grip slipping and she stumbled after one more beat of its wings.  _ W-why couldn’t I have gotten wings too!? _ She thought as she fell, bracing herself from the heat of the fire and she fell through the black cloud of smoke. _

_ Odori’s eyes widened and Akatsuki rushed over to her side to catch the falling peacock. “Miryoku!” Both girls shouted in unison as they tried to catch her, but the force of the fall had all three collapsing to the ground, the fox and the wolf managing to breaking the other’s fall. _

_ The dragon let out one last horrid roar before dissolving into millions of black feathers that disappeared only seconds after. Dust swirled around them then and Akatsuki groaned, gritting her teeth together when Miryoku sat up, clutching at her head and rubbing it. “O-ow…” _

_ “D-damn it, get off!” the fox growled out and Miryoku finally realized where she was sitting, her eyes wide as she scrambled to get up. _

_ “S-sorry!” she said and frowned, helping the two up. “Thanks for catching me though,” she said with a sheepish smile and Akatsuki glared at her, brushing her outfit off. _

_ “You really need to go on a diet...” Odori muttered and rubbed at her own head, wincing a little. “You weigh too much for us to be catching your ass all the time, like this.” _

_ Miryoku crossed her arms and glared at the wolf then, a sharp noise leaving her throat. “I do not!” she huffed out but before either could reply back, they were all stopped when they heard a groan from behind them. Turning sharply around, Miryoku was the one to first spot the leopard as Banira hissed, struggling to sit up. _

_ “A-a little help... p-please...?” she whimpered, cracking one eye open, and the three couldn’t help but laugh a little as they rushed over to her side. Odori and Akatsuki helped pull her up and Miryoku leant down to grab the leopard’s gem, handing it to her. _

_ “Sorry Banira.” Miryoku apologized as Banira shook her head, stumbling a little and the peacock only barely just managed to catch her around her waist. “Here,” she said smoothly, “let me help.” Draping Banira’s arm over her shoulder, she helped her to walk and Banira only barely managed a grateful smile, the smile turning to a slight grimace when she felt nausea wash over her. _

_ “Thanks…” she murmured and the other three glanced at each other before coming to a unanimous decision. Changing back into their human forms, they looked around, all thinking the same thing. _

_ “So… how do we get out of here?” Akatsuki asked and after a few more seconds of aimlessly looking around, Odori finally turned and she caught their attentions. Pointing the mirror that had suddenly appeared before them, the glass a pure white, she spoke, though a little hesitant. _

_ “I’m guessing that’s how,” she guessed and the four once again glanced around at the others. _

_ “That… wasn’t there before.” Banira frowned uneasily, letting out a shaky breath and Odori shook her head. _

_ “Well it’s here now,” Odori said and Miryoku hummed, looking down in thought. _

_ “When we defeated the Kiseichu, it must’ve triggered a gateway portal for us to get back home,” she pointed out and Akatsuki huffed while Banira and Odori nodded in agreement. _

_ “Well then, let’s go.” Akatsuki grinned and walked to the portal, followed by Odori, and then Banira and Miryoku. Turning back to her friends with a little nod, they held hands before taking in a deep breath, letting it out, and then they finally jumped. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

Feeling my world getting heavier and heavier with each passing second, I knew then that if I went to sleep now, it would surely be the last time. I watched Kumo with half lidded eyes, worried about him as he kept shooting his brother glares. He kept his hands on the bubble, looking back at me with his face paled and I frowned in return,  _ I… I wonder what he’s thinking about… he probably thinks that I… that something bad is going to happen… and I don’t blame him. So many… many ‘what ifs’… _

I felt numb now, the pain I felt only minutes before was gone, replaced with an empty feeling and I didn’t know what would happen next. I didn’t know how much longer I would be able to stay awake.

“Ame, please... don’t give up.” Kumo whispered to me, his red eyes now showing, for the first time in a long time, fear. They also showed longing, love, hope, sadness, hatred, and something I almost didn’t recognize, a feeling of loneliness... of being lost for the first time in his life.

I smiled softly at him, blinking my eyes to clear away the blurriness, wanting to create a less tense and sad air.

_ I guess... _

“Kumo...?” I whispered his name and he bit his lower lip.

“Y-yes Ame?” he whispered back and I could tell he was scared. I… I was too.

_ This is it... _

“I’m sorry...” I whispered to him and he straightened up.

“Ame, there… there is  _ nothing _ for you to be sorry about,” he said frantically, almost as if he knew what I was going to say next. “Ame... please don’t...” but I cut him off, wanting to say what was needed.

_ I’m going to die... _

“I...” I swallowed and let out a shaky breath, “I l-love you...” I murmured with one single thought in my head,  _ At least now I know that I was actually worth something in the world... now I know that I actually did have people who cared about me…  _ My world finally fell into another dark sleep and this time, I knew for sure I wouldn’t wake up again.

_ I’m sorry... Kumo... _


	20. Chapter 19

_ Kumo’s visibly paled and his eyes became as wide as saucers when he saw the bubble finally burst, from the final charge, and his kitten fell. Kumo rushed forward immediately, catching the other in his arms, falling abruptly to his knees. “Ame! N-no! Ame! Y-you can’t!” he cried out, tears coming to his eyes once more and he vaguely heard the sounds of footsteps behind him. “A-ame, please...” he pleaded with a broken voice, “wake up...!” Shaking Ame, the tears finally fell when he got no response.  _ T-this can’t be the end! He… he’s not dead!

_ But… Ame’s body was pale and lifeless; his once soft pink lips were now barely of any color and his unique pure golden colored eyes were now closed, never to open again. His hair was now covering his face and his lips were curled into a single small smile.  _ I… I love you… Ame… Ame please…

_ “Kumo...?” he looked up at the sound of the familiar voice and looked behind him to see Miryoku, looking at him with eyes that shined with worry and fear and uncertainty. Odori, Banira, and Akatsuki all stood behind her and they each wore the same expression. It was only made so much worse when they saw Ame. Banira’s hand flew to her mouth, stumbling and she fell to her knees, eyes filling with tears. Akatsuki visibly stepped back, fangs bared as several different emotions went through her, fear and anger and sadness. _

_ “N-no!” she said as Odori choked on her breath and Miryoku froze, tears coming to her eyes but refusing to fall. “I-is he...? P-please tell me… this isn’t real…!” The fox shook her head sharply and turned away, fists clenched tightly, hiding her tears as they fell. _

_ Miryoku finally took a step forward and she fell to the ground beside Kumo, the tears falling freely now. “Oh Kumo... I… I’m so sorry...” she whispered sadly, “I should’ve known this was going to happen…” she shook her head and looked at Ame, reaching out to brush his hair back from his face. _

_ “B-but... he isn’t really... gone... i-is he!?” Odori shook her head and closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to believe it. “H-he can’t be!” she finally barked out, choking on her own words. _

_ “He.... I tried... I really tried to help him but... he wouldn’t let me.” Kumo choked out and hugged Ame tightly, wishing that this wasn’t real, wishing that he wasn’t really dead. He leaned down to place his lips onto Ame’s in a soft and loving kiss, begging for him to wake up. “P-please Ame... please.... Wake up...” he pleaded, but he knew it wouldn’t work.  _ He was right… this isn’t a fairytale…

_ Akatsuki growled, low and dark, and she finally turned around, facing towards the blonde demon. She felt her blood boil when she saw that he was smirking, standing up as he wiped his face with the back of his hand; he was delighted to see that it had worked, that all his hard work was not for nothing. She clenched her fists even tighter and ran towards the demon, grabbing the collar of his shirt as she spat at him. “You bastard!” she let go of him and punched him, sending him back a few steps, though he clearly expected the blow. _

_ “Pathetic humans…” he seethed, “I only did what was necessary to restore my home!” Akatsuki only hit him again, the growl never once leaving her throat. She was pissed and scared and lost,  _ This wasn’t supposed to happen! We were supposed to save him! Now he… he’s gone…!

_ “Fuck you!” she yelled out, the tears still crawling down her cheeks, but she did nothing to stop them. “Was that all you cared about!? Restoring your home!” Ite nodded and hissed at her when she tried hitting him again, catching her fist. _

_ “Of course it was!” he snapped at her.  _ Do they not understand this!? One pathetic life surely can’t be worth more than my home! I did this to save millions and they don’t even care! _ He thought, furious, glaring darkly at the fox. _

_ That seemed to be the last straw for Akatsuki, however, and she balled up her other fist, throwing it at him with all the strength and anger she had. Ite let out a pained grunt, sent to the ground, hissing when his back collided with the broken stone. “Y-you heartless bastard!” she barked, her voice raised, but broken. “You sacrificed someone’s life to rebuild your home when there were countless of other options for you to choose!” she growled out and watched as Ite sat up lightly, wiping his mouth of the blood that was there. _

_ “So what if I did!? It’s one life to save millions!” he shouted back and Akatsuki shook her head, scoffing at his response and she turned her head away sharply, stepping back as if to control herself. _

_ “Would you have done it if you had to sacrifice one of your brothers!?” she asked the question with such boldness that Ite froze up, eyes wide, having not expected it.  _ W-what? What is she playing at!?

_ “I... I well... n-no! Of course not! They’re my brothers!” he spat out, tense as a log, unknowing what she was getting at. The glare only returned to him, however, and she bared her fangs, clearly displeased. _

_ “Well then why do it to Ame without a second thought?! He’s just like your brothers in so many ways... so why… why throw him away like he’s worth nothing?” she threw her arm out and he scoffed, standing up now. _

_ “Because he’s just a human! He wasn’t  _ worth _ anything!” he snapped back at her. _

_ “N-no... You’re wrong.” Akatsuki trembled and Ite opened his mouth to say something but he closed it when Akatsuki continued talking. “You say that you would never hurt any of your brothers... Y-you say that you would never… sacrifice them… for something as stupid as this. Well I have some news for you Ite!” _

_ “Aka...” Miryoku whispered, staring at her friend with worry and sadness. _

_ “Suki...?” The leopard and the wolf looked at each other, huddling close as they listened, unable to watch. It was heartbreaking enough without having to see their normally headstrong and iron-hearted friend get like this. _

_ Akatsuki wiped her tears and stared at Ite. “Ame’s like a brother to me…! A-and you should know that I would do everything I can to protect him... and... and he’s gone now... all because of your stupid, selfish actions!” she finally finished and Ite tensed up. _

_ Truth be told, he hadn’t seen it like this before. All he’d been thinking about was how this will affect him, his brothers, and his home... Now though, looking around at the others, he felt sick and angered at himself. His gaze first fell on Kumo, the other still holding onto the little kit tightly, whispering words Ite couldn’t hear. But he could see just fine, and what he saw, he hated. Kumo was crying, and Ite realized that this was the first time that the vampire has ever cried for anything or anyone, not since the great massacre on their planet. _

_ Turning his head to where Rekkusu and Taiyo were, he saw the phoenix healing the other three, ignoring his own injuries as he tended to both demon and Spirit. His brothers had all gotten hurt because of him and so did the animal spirits that he had promised himself months ago that he wouldn’t actually hurt. But here he was, here they all were, broken hearted and hurt in some way; even his own promises were broken, to himself and to his brothers. _

_ He closed his eyes tightly for a moment until he heard the whispered words of the fox before him and he opened his eyes, his heart beating painfully when he saw her. It was as if seeing her for the first time and he honestly didn’t know what to do.  _ What have I done…? _ he thought, hating that he was seeing her so heartbroken.  _ I… I’ve never seen her cry before… and now… I wish I never did.

_ “Ite...” she choked on a sob and she fell to her knees. On instinct, he fell with her, catching her fall, his arms around her. “Y-you have to… you have to b-bring him back to us…” she whimpered, and he clutched tightly at her dress, letting out a sharp breath, his eyes closed.  _ What am I going to do…? _ he thought, frowning now. _

_ “The… the whole reason we came to this place was so that we could restore our home.” he started, speaking softly, and he hoped she would sit still and listen. “The… the truth is, we had tried… to find another way. But we discovered that what we could get from the quarries and the caves on your planet either weren’t what we needed or wasn’t enough that we needed.” Sighing, he let himself relax and he lowered his head, hugging her tighter to him. “Then… then I found out that Hai and Doreiku were searching for… people… with unique abilities. And one of those people was the Onyx Spirit, Ame… and we found out that he… he had what we needed. And I thought…” gritting his teeth when she clutched tightly at him, he continued, “I thought that if we could somehow retrieve what he had, then everything would be okay. I never counted on… on any of this…” he finished in a whisper. _

_ “B-but why do this…? Why kill him…!?” she sobbed and he grimaced, looking down.  _ Because I was only thinking of my own selfish reasons… I just… I wanted my home back so badly… _ he thought in answer, but didn’t voice it out loud, when she continued. “Please Ite… please…” she whispered again, sounding so defeated and he sighed, pulling back and away from her, his hands going to her own wrists, causing her to look up at him with those beautiful hazel eyes. _

_ “I… I think I know what I can do…” he whispered, and Akatsuki’s eyes widened, swirling with confusion and hope. _

_ “W-what...?” she asked and he stood up, taking her up with him. _

_ “I… I’ll help you, but don’t… expect much…” he muttered, in an attempt to cover up the fact that he was going soft but he couldn’t help it when his heart skipped a beat at her bright smile. Her eyes were filled with happiness then and when he looked back at the other Spirits, he saw that they were all looking at him with hope, disbelief, and happiness as well.  _ Can I… actually do this…? Can I help them and still get back my home…? _ he thought, frowning a little as he turned to look, then, at Ame.  _ You… are a lucky cat, little one… to have such people to care about you… _ he added in his thoughts before taking in a deep breath and he began walking over to Kumo, catching the attention of Taiyo and Rekkusu, the ghost reluctantly helping Sukai up as Taiyo tended to Hana. _

_ Akatsuki tried to contain her happiness, though there was still doubt within her heart, and she closed her eyes tightly turning her head down to hide her smile. “Thank you… Ite.” she whispered and he only barely kept himself from glancing back, bunching his shoulders up. _

_ He said nothing, though, as he walked to over to where the Kuzui he needed was stored. Kneeling down beside, it startling his brother, he held his hand to it and let out a soft sigh.  _ I… I can’t believe I’m doing this but… I… I hope this works anyway... _ he thought before closing his eyes in concentration and he allowed himself to create a small golden sphere. Opening his eyes, he pulled the sphere from the box and he was delighted when he saw the obsidian dust swirling around inside the sphere.  _ It… it worked…

_ He turned his head towards the kitten and Kumo looked up at him, narrowing his eyes. “W-what are you doing?” he asked, his voice broken and uneasy. Ite frowned at him, his heart sinking a little when he saw the distrust and anger and sadness in those red eyes.  _ I was blinded so much that I could not even see how much this had affected him, not at first.

_ Ite sighed softly and held the sphere out to him, turning his head down and away. “Fixing my mistake...” he whispered so only Kumo could here him and he felt as Kumo took the sphere from him, though hesitant, he knew. When he pulled back his hand, he looked back at the box, schooling his expression into a blank one. “We still have enough to return home with to restore our own planet.” He said, mostly to himself, turning back away from his brother and the little cat. _

_ Kumo looked down at the gold sphere in his hand and he let out a shaky breath, closing his eyes tightly before opening them again. Without another thought, he lowered it to Ame’s chest and he held his breath as it disappeared inside of him. He waited for several seconds, still holding his breath and he frowned, “A-ame...?” he whispered, letting out another shaky breath when he got no response. _

_ “Ame...?” Banira knelt beside him, clenching her fists against her pants. _

_ “Is he… is he going to be okay, now?” Miryoku asked, frowning a little when she received no answer from Kumo. _

_ Odori and Akatsuki walked to the four, frowns upon their faces and Akatsuki bit at her lower lip. “Ame... please wake up…” she whispered to herself, trembling a little, “p-please...” closing her eyes tightly, she turned her head down, praying to herself. _

_ Sukai and Hana joined them, though shaky and hesitant, silently praying after they heard the others speak about what happened. Taiyo looked down and away, crossing his fingers, and Rekkusu closed his eyes tightly, hating that he felt sick. They stood on the sidelines, back and away from the Spirits and away from Kumo. Even Ite stood back, and though he was looking away, he kept glancing back every few seconds, hoping… pleading… for something to happen.  _ This is one mistake that I… that I just have to fix… but if this doesn’t work… I don’t know what I’ll do… _ he thought, honest, torn between his heart and his mind.  _ Come on, little cat… just… wake up…

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

For a moment, there was nothing but darkness, but then a sharp pain was torn through me and everything was suddenly bright, almost too bright. I hissed slightly, under my breath, and cracked my eyes open to try and rid myself of the pain. It dulled after a few moments as I panted heavily and I tried to steady my breath. It was only then that I became aware of the world around me and I tensed when I felt arms around me, but that only lasted a second before I realized who they belonged to. Allowing myself a little purr, I ignored the pain and turned myself into the warmth, feeling a bit cold, and I cuddled against Kumo’s chest. “K-kumo…” I whispered so only he could hear me and I winced when his arms tightened around me.

“A-ame…!” he choked out and I let out a shaky breath, resting my head against his shoulder. “Y-you’re ok…! Oh thank the stars… you’re okay…” he repeated, over and over and I made a small noise in the back of my throat.  _ T-that hurts… _ I thought, closing my eyes tightly.

“O-ow...” I panted out and felt as he pulled back, loosening his grip only slightly. Opening my eyes a little, I looked up and into his eyes, smiling a little when he looked back down at me with those beautiful red eyes. Reaching a hand up, I wiped away some of his tears before leaning up and I kissed him, the touch to his lips soft and feather light.  _ I’m back in his arms… _ I thought, unable to help it,  _ a place I thought I’d never miss so much, not like this… _ Pulling away, I finally sat up, grimacing, before looking up when I heard a sharp gasp, and I saw Banira looking at me with wide eyes. “H-hey…” I mumbled, before hissing when I was instantly pulled out of Kumo’s arms and into Miryoku’s own. “F-fuck!” I cursed, though tried to keep my voice lowered.  _ T-that really hurt, damn it…! _

Miryoku let out a choked laugh and pulled back, a wide smile on her face, tears streaking down her cheeks. “Ame! Thank God…!”

“Oh thank goodness, you’re ok!” The wolf shouted after and she joined in the hug, squishing me as Banira laughed. Akatsuki snickered when I hissed, squirming away.

“C-come on guys! That’s hurts!” I whined and Miryoku let me go, for only a moment, though she didn’t truly let go of me. Kumo stood up with the help of Akatsuki and the other two, the snake and the dolphin, walked up behind us, seemingly relieved to find that I was okay.  _ Or at least, as okay as one can get after literally dying. _

Ite cleared his throat then, frowning as he caught my attention, and I narrowed my eyes at him. “As much as I would hate to break up this happy little reunion, we must be getting back,” he said and our gazes met, silver meeting gold.  _ Ite… _ I thought, letting out a soft sigh before finally nodding to him,  _ turns out you’re not such a bad guy, after all… _ only receiving a light smirk back,  _ so… thanks. I think… _ Holding out his hand, he held it over the box, lifting into the air as if the box were tied to invisible strings and he nodded to Kumo before turning to Taiyo and Rekkusu. “Time to go home,” he said with a smile and Taiyo smiled too, nodding to us.

Rekkusu huffed and turned his head away, glaring at the ground, rubbing at his chest and I heard Sukai snicker, “Poison sure is a bitch,” she muttered, confusing me for a moment before I recalled what she had done before everything came to a standpoint. Finally, turning back to the demons, I watched as they left, Ite sending Kumo and I one last smile.

My attention was turned back towards Miryoku when she tightened her grip around me and I winced again, “Sorry Ame.” she pulled back again as Odori finally let go of my arm. Sighing in relief as they finally backed away from me, and I allowed myself a moment to relax before jumping, letting out a sharp cry, when I felt arms wrap around me. I relaxed once more, only seconds after, and sighed softly again, leaning back against Kumo’s chest.

“I love you, too,” he whispered against my neck and I smiled, tears coming to my eyes, purring lightly.

“I know,” I murmured and turned around to face him, smiling wide now, the tears crawling down my cheeks.  _ I was scared that I’d never see his face again… but now… I don’t have to be. _ He smiled softly, back at me, and he reached his arms up, hesitant, and he tied something around my neck. Freezing, wide-eyed, I felt my breath hitch as I felt his hands brush against the lace, the bells jingling when he brushed past them and I choked on a laugh, wrapping my arms around his neck and I pulled him down for a kiss, rather than standing on my own toes to do so. Placing my lips onto his once more, in a kiss far more passionate than the first, he smirked and kissed back with equal fervor.

I only pulled back and away when I heard someone clear their throat and I turned my head, frowning, with only a little bit of a blush on my cheeks. Noticing who it had been, I glared at the brown haired girl, wondering what she was doing. She looked a bit uncomfortable, and in return, that had me a bit uncertain.  _ I wish I had a better title for her than ‘the snake’ or ‘the brown haired girl’… _ I thought absent-mindedly.

“So um...” she started, uneasily, “can we leave now?” she asked and looked around at us, bringing up something that hadn’t exactly been realized.

We’d won. Sort of, anyway. I mean, the demons got their home back, but at least, we’re okay and everything is fine. I’m alive again and things are exactly how they’re supposed to be. Chuckling, I smiled a little at them all and stepped away from Kumo, only to stumble, nausea causing me to become dizzy and unfocused and I felt sick for a moment.

Kumo stepped forward and caught me, “A-ame…! Hold on,” he said, “I’ve got you…” Kumo added and I nodded slowly, a hand going to my mouth and I closed my eyes tightly, my head hurting, but the moment passed and soon only my head was pounding.

Letting out a shaky breath, I stood up, a bit shaky, and stepped away. “I’m fine Kumo.” I hummed and smiled up at him before turning back to the others, seeing their concerned expressions. “Let’s go back to the café, okay? I’m starving.” I laughed and they all answered with their own, talking all at once as they began walking to the temple entrance.

I watched them go with a smile and only turned my head when Kumo walked in front of me, holding his hand out. “Ready to go, my kit?” he murmured and I blushed only a little before nodding, but before I could take his hand, I felt dizzy once more and stumbled, falling to the ground. “A-ame!” worry and fear and annoyance was in his voice when he reached out to catch me and I grimaced when my head hurt a bit more.

“S-sorry...” I mumbled and he sighed softly, hugging me tight against him.

“Just get some rest,” he whispered to me, holding me so I was in his arms, and I leaned my head against his chest, smiling dazedly.  _ Gladly... _ I thought, only letting out a small yawn before finally letting sleep claim me. Only this time, I knew I was going to wake up again, and truth is, I couldn’t wait.


	21. Chapter 20

Sitting up against the head of my bed, I whined as Kumo tried to hand feed me. “I can do it myself!” I argued, crossing my arms with a small glare and he only chuckled, smirking a little as he set the spoon in the bowl of soup.

“Come now, Ame,” he cooed, “I’m trying to help.” My glare darkened at this and I turned my head away, scowling.

“No.” I answered, adamant in this and he sighed, frowning as he finally gave up, setting the bowl aside on the dresser beside the bed.

It’s been the same thing for weeks now, every morning since I’d died and come back. That was over two months ago and truth be told, I wouldn’t be so bothered about it, if he hadn’t been so stubborn. By his word, I haven’t been able to do anything on my own. And it would be fine, it this was still two weeks ago, but I’ve stopped having dizzy spells and I can finally go a whole day without getting sick.

See, another thing is, it’s kind of my birthday today, and the only one I’ve told was Kumo. Not that he’s done much at all today, but… it was nice that he was doing this, even if it was getting a bit suffocating.

“Kumo, can we  _ please _ just go down to the café to eat?” I tried again, for the second time that hour, and I frowned when he only stared at me for a few moments. I worried that he would say no again, but he finally sighed again in defeat and he sat up.

“Only if you let me help you,” he said, his voice stern and he frowned at me when I whined in answer. I knew what he was thinking, and there was no way I was letting him carry me around, especially not like that. I could walk on my own, damn it.

“But-”

“No buts Ame. It’s either a yes or no,” he crossed his arms and looked at me with a small glare, apparently having made up his mind. Glaring back at him, I huffed out a heavy sigh and scrunched up my nose, turning my head down and away.

“F-fine…” I muttered with a small stutter before sitting up and I crawled over to where he had sat down atop the bed. “You owe me for this,” I added in a hiss and wrapped my arms around his neck. With a small laughed, he stood up as I weighed little more than a kitten, however ironic that is, he was glanced back at me, turning towards the door.

“Whatever you say, love,” he practically purred and I rolled my eyes before watching as he carried me out of the dorm room and finally off the campus grounds. But truth is, I was glad; embarrassed, but glad. Smiling, I tightened my grip around him, clutching at his shirt, and I nuzzled into his neck, unbothered now that we were in public. His only response was a barely there smile that I almost didn’t even catch.

We ended up actually roaming around for a bit, through the mall, and he eventually had to let me down to walk on my own. He still kept an arm around me though, even as we headed down to one of the restaurants around us, and he helped me sit down, which I was actually thankful for. I did mention that I still get a tiny bit dizzy, right? Though I had to say I felt uncomfortable with of all the people staring at us, but Kumo didn’t seem to mind, so I tried not to either.

“Welcome to the Alamo Café, what can I get for you two today?” A waitress came up to our table a minute later, holding a pen and a notepad in her hands, and she smiled at us.

“Sausage and milk, please!” The lady, Karumen, nodded and smiled a little more sweetly at me. Of course, she knows me from the other times I’ve come here to eat and knew she exactly what I wanted, but I always wanted to say it myself. It made me feel like I was coming here for the first time.

“And what about you sir, what would you like?” she asked, turning her attention to Kumo for the first time and she almost seemed to pause, before another smile, this time a bit more seductive, stretched across her lips. I couldn’t help the small growl that formed in my throat and Kumo glanced at me with a smirk, shaking his head before looking back at her.

“Just some water please,” he said simply and I saw her smile again.

“Is that all, then?” she asked and I turned my head away, clenching my fists. I knew I had no reason to be jealous, but I couldn’t help it, especially when I knew what she was thinking. Not to mention, there was no possible way she thought we were together in the first place and that upset me just a bit.

“Yes.” He answered again and I heard her linger for a moment before leaving. “Heh, seems someone is a bit jealous.” He stared at me and I glanced up at him, blushing.

“And so what if I was?” I huffed out, crossing my arms.  _ Come on Ame… you have nothing to worry about. Kumo is yours and you’re his… nothing more to it. …right? _

I turned my head back towards him and blushed a little more when he smiled lovingly at me, reaching over to grab my hand, and he pressed my knuckles against his lips. The action had my breath catching and my heart beating faster and I cupped his cheek with it before pulling back, flinching when I heard Karumen clear her throat. She was standing there with two glasses, one of milk and the other of water. “Here are your drinks, sir,” she murmured, bowing her head and I frowned when I saw that she wasn’t even looking at him.  _ What just happened…? _ I asked myself before blushing when she looked at me, smirking, “And you, sweetie, your lunch will be ready in a few minutes, alright?” Nodding my head slowly, I still didn’t understand what was going on and I turned only when she left.

When I turned back to Kumo, I was surprised and shocked, letting out a noise similar to a squeak, when he leaned over and kissed me, claiming my lips in front of everyone in the restaurant. The kiss only lasted a few seconds before he was pulling away, giving a little nip to my bottom lip before sitting back completely, his hand brushing against my cheek before going back to my own hand.

“K-kumo…?” I couldn’t help but swallow, eyes wide, a dark blush on my cheeks, I knew. He snickered though and shook his head, tilting it to the side as he regarded me.

“Don’t worry, Ame, your ears aren’t showing,” he murmured and I frowned, taking a moment to test to see if that was true, but I couldn’t feel or see my tail, so that was a good sign. Looking back at him, I huffed and narrowed my eyes, growling a little, though it was weak.

“W-why’d you go and do that?!” I very nearly snapped, though I lowered my voice when I noticed an old lady glaring at me and I felt even more uncomfortable than when we first walked in.

“Because I wanted everyone to see that I was already taken and that you belonged to me.” he murmured in answer and I huffed again, reaching for my milk and taking a small drink of it. “Ame,” Kumo murmured, but I refused to look up from the table, until he took hold of my chin, lifting it up and I frowned, “I love you,” he said with the softest smile I’d ever seen and I couldn’t help but smile back.

Leaning over quickly, I placed a cheeky kiss against his lips in return, laughing at his look of surprise. But before he could respond, Karumen returned with my food and I was happily digging into them by the time he even realized what was going on. I finally finished the sausages after a bit, though, and finished off my milk, smiling in content. Looking back at him, watching as he sipped at his water, I let out a soft laugh and shook my head, “I… I love you, too…” I said, looking shyly at him when he glanced back at me and he only smiled; no smirk and no grin, just… a simple, happy smile.

“I know,” he murmured, “my love.”

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Akatsuki sighed softly as she walked down the sidewalk with her best friends, Bera and Romio. “So Aka, how are your ballet classes going?” Bera, a blonde with green eyes, questioned, nudging her redheaded friend in her side. Any idiot could tell she was finally glad to have some time to spend with her best friend. _

_ “Heh, well actually,” Akatsuki started, turning to them, with a sheepish smile, “I quit ballet for a different hobby.” she grinned to herself and only laughed when she saw her friends’ faces. _

_ “You quit the only possible talent you ever had?!” Romio, a brunette with blue eyes, flailed his arms around, sounding very shocked, but both girls knew he was teasing Akatsuki about it all. The thing is, ballet had been the only she’d known for years now, since her mother died, and so, she understood where Romio where coming from. _

_ “Yeah,” she sighed, running a hand through her hair, “I know...” she murmured, before glancing back at him and she smirked. “What about you with your art, lover boy?”Akastuki questioned and snickered at the nickname she gave him; it was funny to her since his name was Romio, from the story Romio and Jurietto. _

_ “Stop calling me that,” he growled at her, before crossing his arms, “and I’ll have you know that I just sold one of my paintings last week!” he boasted and Akatsuki raised an eyebrow. _

_ “Oh yeah? Which one?” she asked and he blushed, ducking his head, the smirk on her face growing, “You mean  _ that _ one? The ultra secret painting that you wouldn’t even show Bera and I?” Akatsuki’s eyes sparkled and Bera giggled when the boy blushed. “Who’d you sell it to? Your imaginary girlfriend?” _

_ Romio glared pathetically at her and stuck his tongue out, “I don’t have a girlfriend. I’ll have you know I sold that painting to a certain little-” _

_ “Ooh! Who’s that?” Bera cut him off before he had the chance to finish that sentence and she looked ahead of them, eyes sparkling when she saw a blonde haired, silver eyed man leaning against a tree. “Wow, heh, he’s hot!” she smirked and Romio pouted. _

_ “Ugh, I knew you weren’t faithful,” he teased and she giggled while hugging him. _

_ “Oh Romio, you know I love you,” she cooed back and Akatsuki rolled her eyes, turning away from the two as they started talking back and forth. She frowned, feeling a tug at her heart when she recognized who it was and if it weren't for Bera spotting the other first, she would’ve thought it was all just a dream. Or her imagination, anyway. _

_ “Hey, Bera,” she murmured, glancing back at them, “Romio, why don’t you two go on ahead back to the dorms without me, I’ll… catch up with you two later on.” she said and the two looked at each other before nodding at her. Romio smiled and then grinned, taking off down the sidewalk. _

_ “Hey! Romio!” Bera shouted, taking off after him when he laughed and Akatsuki couldn’t help the smile on her lips as she watched her friends go, but the smile was soon gone when she turned back to Ite. Hesitating for only a moment, she began walking towards him, her fists clenched. _

_ “Akatsuki,” she sighed, crossing her arms, when he greeted her with a smile, “it’s good to see you again.” _

_ “What are you doing here Ite?” she asked instead of responding to the greeting, unsure if she should be mad or happy and upset, so she went with what she knew best; anger. _

_ “Is it so bad that I wanted to see you?” he asked and she frowned more, shoulders tensed up. “It has been over two months since we last saw each other,” he said and she only smiled then, turning her head down. “I thought for sure you would not have remembered me, however, I find, it seems, that you haven’t forgotten about me in the least.” _

_ “Neither have you, apparently.” she returned with a smirk and uncrossed her arms as Ite walked to her. Though she would never admit it, she’d missed him, more than she ever has with any other guy before. _

_ “You know, I’ve missed seeing you,” he said lightly and she frowned at him, eyes narrowed, and he quickly added, “and I know things weren’t so great in the past but I… I truly have missed you.” _

_ “Oh really?” she scoffed and turned her head away from, her arms crossed again. _

_ “Yeah, really,” he sighed, trying to get her to look back at him. _

_ “Is that the only thing you wanted to tell me, or was there more?” she questioned, glancing back at him with narrowed eyes, though it was enough for him that there was hope flickering within those beautiful hazel eyes. _

_ “Actually,” he chuckled, “there were two more things. But I’m not sure how a fox like you would take them.” he practically purred and she grinned sharply then, closing her eyes for only a single moment before opening them again. Hazel met silver as they gazed into the other’s eyes. _

_ “Try me,” she shot back and watched as he placed his hands upon her waist, hesitant, and he leaned in forward to kiss her. He never expected her to meet him halfway, her arms circling now around his neck. Ite’s arms came around her waist, rather than his hands settling on her hips, and he smirked into the kiss. _

_ He only pulled back when they both needed to breathe and he let out a pleased chuckle. “I am glad to see the feelings are mutual,” he murmured and she sighed. _

_ Backing away, her face only slightly red, she brushed a hand through her hair, glancing down before looking back up, frowning. “You… you said there were two things…” she said, soft and uneasy, and he smiled a little again, a hand resting upon her cheek. She couldn’t help but lean into the touch, closing her eyes. _

_ “Will you do me the honor of letting me take you out to dinner later?” he asked her, the question soft and hesitant, and she opened her eyes, unable to help the smirk that stretched across her lips. _

_ “Are you asking me out on a date?” she asked and he nodded, slowly. _

_ “Yes,” he ducked his head, a little tense, “I… I am, Akatsuki.” he answered her and she let out a little laugh, taking the hand on her cheek into her own hands. _

_ “I would love to take you up on that offer,” she smiled, “Ite.” _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ “Hello, Odori? Is anyone home?” The wolf frowned, blinking her eyes as came back to reality. Noticing that her friend, Gazeru, was waving her hand in front of her face, she almost jumped back, a bit startled. _

_ “H-huh, what?” Odori asked, and Gazeru sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, looking a little annoyed. _

_ “Hello, the party?” she huffed out, crossing her arms after brushing a strand of her short red hair from her face, and Odori’s eyes widened when she recalled the details. _

_ “R-right…!” she smiled sheepishly and her friend groaned, rolling her eyes. _

_ “Man, what’s with you? You’ve been like this for the past month, at least!” she complained and Odori gave her another sheepish smile. _

_ “Sorry, I’ve just had a lot of stuff on my mind lately.” she sighed softly, shrugging her shoulders.  _ Or really, one thing in general… _ Ignoring her thoughts, she walked with Gazeru to the dress store and watched as she looked through the dresses and picked herself out a long red dress and some black heels. _

_ “Now you need to pick out something while I try these on,” Gazeru said to her and Odori sighed but nodded and went to search for a dress, though really she didn’t want to. She had plenty at home and at Gazeru’s, but for some reason the other insisted on getting new ones. After some searching though, she found a dress that was, like many others in truth, a lilac color with a silver rose drawn upon it and it had matching silk gloves that came to her elbows. She also picked out black dress shoes without any heels on them and a couple of random purple clips from the front of the shop. _

_ Finally going to the back, where the rooms were, she entered one and decided to go ahead and try everything on. When she was done, she fixed the clips in her hair before exiting the room, surprised when Gazeru greeted her. “Oh, Ori, you look so beautiful!” Gazeru clapped her hands together, smiling wide as she looked her friend over. _

_ “Same with you Gezy.” the wolf said and smiled softly back at her before Gazeru grabbed her hand and grinned, her pale blue eyes sparkling. _

_ “Come on, let’s pay for this stuff and then head out to the party!” she said with an excited laugh and dragged the Spirit over to the clerk to pay for their items. When they were done, dressed and ready, the finally headed off to the party. “Cute boys, here we come!” Gazeru shouted and Odori could only offer a weak chuckle in return. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ Several people were already at the party by the time she and Gazeru made it, and she noted that some she knew and others she didn’t. But they were all here for the same thing: to dance and have fun. Well, they were anyway; she didn’t quite know about herself. She wasn’t much of a dancer, anyway. _

_ “See you later Ori, I have a date with a hot redhead.” Gazeru grinned at her, sending her a little wink before running off into the crowd, leaving Odori on her own. For a moment, Odori wondered what redhead the other was talking about, thinking back to the man that she saw Ame with a while back. Shaking her head though, she quickly became disinterested in following that train and she smiled before going over to the punch table to get her a small glass. She was only stopped when a hand grabbed her wrist and she gasped, eyes wide. _

_ “I wouldn’t drink any punch if I were you, I saw some kid spike it a few minutes ago,” turning her head sharply, she slowly set the glass down and was very surprised and rather delighted to see the handsome white haired demon with captivating purple eyes looking at her. Letting out a little laugh, she shook her head when she saw his little smirk and removed her hand gently from his grip. _

_ “Rekkusu…!” she barked out before hugging him tightly, unable to help the reaction. Just a month ago, he came to visit her, and they talked, but then he disappeared again only with the heavy promise that he’d return someday again. _

_ He let out a small chuckle and smiled softly at her, a little embarrassed, “I… I’m glad that you’re happy with me being here…” he murmured and she stared at him, wide eyed.  _ Why would he say such a thing? Of course I’m happy he’s here! He promised he’d return and he did…

_ “What a silly thing to say,” she smiled, “of course I’m happy you’re here…” though she quickly let go when Rekkusu blushed, ducking his head, a little embarrassed herself. “S-sorry,” she said in apology but was quickly stopped from back away any further when he grabbed her back, hugging her tighter than she even had. _

_ “You looked beautiful Odori.” he murmured and she blushed, smiling at him. _

_ “Thank you,” she whispered, brushing a strand of her hair back when he pulled away from the hug and he held his hand out to her, stepping back with a little bow of his head. _

_ “May I take this dance?” he questioned as soon as a slow song came on and her blush darkened, but she nodded and took his hand anyway.  _ He’s… really not so bad when you get to know him… _ she thought, giggling a little to herself and Rekkusu bit at his lower lip, looking down at the floor when she did. _

_ “Of course,” she answered and he practically beamed, holding her hand as he led her out to the dance floor. They danced for a few moments in silence, aware of seemingly only themselves, until the ghost spoke up, his voice low and soft. _

_ “You know, I… I’ve missed you.” he said and Odori smiled at him, looking up and into his eyes. _

_ “I know,” she whispered back, moving closer to him as they danced, “I have too… more than you could ever think.” She whispered and he smiled brightly while moving along with the music and holding her close to him. _

_ “Is that so?” he murmured and she only nodded, lost within his voice, his touch, and his warmth.  _ I never knew a ghost could be so warm… _ she smiled at her thoughts, closing her eyes. “O-odori,” Rekkusu started before pausing, biting his lower lip as if unsure about what he wanted to say, and Odori opened her eyes again, looking back up at him. _

_ “Yes, Rekkusu?” _

_ “I… I love you,” he whispered to her, so only she could hear, hugging her tightly to him as if afraid of rejection and she only hugged him tighter. Truth is, she couldn’t have been happier. _

_ “I love you too.” _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

_ “Banira, are you alright?” Izaberu, the snow leopard’s brown haired best friend, asked her, frowning at the blonde that sat beside her on the grass. Banira nodded, though, staring up at the night sky with a little frown, her eyes twinkling with the stars, though they were sad looking. It was only a week ago that Izaberu had taken to joining her, on nights like these, though she knew her friend had done this more times than she was aware of. _

_ “Yeah, I’m fine,” she murmured and Izaberu sighed, but smiled sadly at the other. _

_ “Well” she started as she stood up, brushing off her pants, “okay.” Walking back towards the house, she glanced back at the other, pausing just before the entrance. “I’ll… call you in when dinner’s done… okay?” _

_ “Alright,” Banira answered, glancing back at her friend with a small smile and that was enough to convince the other to move on and go back inside. Sighing softly, the leopard turned back up to the sky and she continued her star gazing. _

_ “Banira?” she jolted upright at the familiar voice and turned around to see a familiar red haired demon with soft green eyes. “What are you doing out so late at night?” _

_ Her eyes widened and she almost couldn’t believe what she was seeing, “T-Taiyo…?” she questioned and he smiled softly, walking over to her and plopping onto the grass. _

_ “Yeah it’s me,” he hummed, glancing at her, “you surprised?” he asked and she nodded slowly, her light blue eyes showing sadness as she stared at him, trying to figure out if this was a dream or not. “I’m really glad you haven’t forgotten about me.” he said with a small, hesitant smiled, and she frowned. _

_ “How could I ever forget you?” she asked and looked up at the sky, a blush creeping to her face. “It’s been two months, I… I didn’t think you would ever be coming back here again.” she said in a soft voice and he looked at her, blushing a little, though he was clearly sad at hearing this. _

_ Shaking his head, he decided to turn back to the stars, unknowing of what he could even say to such a thing, but his eyes quickly widened and he grinned. “Hey look!” he laughed, “A shooting star!” Pointing up at the sky, though he didn’t need to, Banira’s eyes also went wide at the sight. She soon closed her eyes tightly, though, and she whispered something under her breath. “What are you doing?” he questioned, slow and unsure and confused. Giggling, she looked up at him, blue eyes sparkling. _

_ “Whenever you see a shooting star,” she smiled, “you always wish for something and sometimes it might come true.” she finished and he looked back up at the sky, tilting his head curiously. _

_ “So… what’d you wish for?” he asked her and she blushed lightly. _

_ “I… I wished that you would finally be able to stay… instead of going away again.” she answered softly and blushed a little more, looking away from him as he smiled back at her, his eyes coming to rest on her face. _

_ “Really? Why… why is that?” he questioned, getting on his knees and he looked at her with a certain spark of curiosity in his eyes. _

_ “Y-yeah…” she ducked her head, brushing a strand of her hair from her face, “I… I really like you… Taiyo…” she said and he frowned a little, confused for a moment, before a bright smile lit up his face. _

_ “I really like you too Banira.” he said and she turned her head towards him in surprise. _

_ “Really?” she asked and he nodded in answer. _

_ “Really, and I…” he paused and looked away, “I won’t go away again if you don’t… don’t want me to…” he added and she honestly couldn’t have gotten any happier. _

_ She grinned wide and purred loudly as she threw herself at the phoenix demon, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Thank you…! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she laughed, repeating the two words over and over as fast as she could, tripping over them sometimes, but he only laughed as well in answer, hugging her back just as tightly. _

_ “So um Banira…” he swallowed nervously as she looked up at him, eyes wide and curious, “w-will you um, go out… with me…?” he finally got out and her eyes became impossibly wider, but they sparkled with happiness and excitement, lightning up the millions of stars high above them. _

_ “Yes!” she exclaimed, “Yes! I will!” she added excitedly and only grinned again before leaning forward and she pressed her lips to his cheek in a small kiss. When she pulled back, she giggled when she saw his face. His eyes were wide and he had a small blush on his face, but as soon as he recovered from the shock, he smiled wide as he pulled her to him in another kiss, this time with her lips against his own.  _ I’m… I’m glad… Banira…

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

Smiling as Kumo sat me upon my bed again, I was glad that the others weren’t in the dorms today. Today had actually been the best day ever, not gonna lie. After he’d taken me to lunch, we went to the waterpark and then we did some stuff with the guys. Afterwards Kumo took me to an expensive dinner and the food was incredible. I might’ve also gotten a lot of surprise kisses, in which one I had to wear Kumo’s coat, but everything had turned out okay.

Overall, though, it was fun.

I felt as the smile turned to a grin and I sat up and wrapped my arms around his neck when he came back from hanging up our jackets. He smirked back at me and leaned in for a kiss, one that I was happy to participate in. “This…” I panted as he pulled away from the kiss, “was the best birthday, I’ve ever had.”

“Heh, I’m glad, but you know,” he murmured with another kiss, “the day isn’t over yet, my little kitten.” I only laughed as he kissed me again, pushing me down against the bed.  _ Scratch the best birthday ever, try… the most perfect birthday ever. _

|-Ψ.ж.Ψ-|

“Kumo…?” I whispered, only barely just getting name out before yawning and I smiled, cuddling up against his chest. I was content and happy and for once, I had no qualms about what had happened. Because if I ever got a chance to repeat this day, I wouldn’t do a single thing different.

“Yes?” he asked, kissing my forehead gently before stroking a hand through my hair and I couldn’t help the little purr that escaped me. There are times that I hate that I’m a cat, and then there are times like these where I love it.

“This is the best birthday I’ve ever had,” I repeated what I’d said only an hour before and my smile grew just a little as I looked up at him and he greeted me with a kiss to the lips. I kissed him back, though a bit slow, exhausted, before pulling back and I leaned against him once more. “So… thank you,” I added in a soft whisper.

I felt him smile against my head and he pulled me closer to him, his arms wrapped around me tightly. “You’re welcome, Ame.” For a moment, everything was silent and I felt myself nodding off, but as soon as I remembered something, reaching my hand up to brush my fingers against the lace of the collar around my neck, I hummed.

“Kumo?”

“Hm?”

“I love you.”

He kissed my forehead then, and I couldn’t help the small purr I let out in response, “I love you too, my perfect little kitten.” he murmured before I finally fell asleep, with nothing but pleasant dreams waiting for me.


	22. Epilogue

A few days after my birthday was when we all had gotten called to the café by the annoying snake, Sukai and her adorable little sister, Hana. How those two are related is beyond me, I swear. It was a bit chilly, though there was a promise of warmth to be found soon enough and the sun was shining softly through the windows, bathing us in light that was neither cold nor warm then. Tired, I felt a bit annoyed as I could’ve been lying on the grass by the lake with Kumo, watching the clouds or sleeping in his lap, but unfortunately it didn’t seem like I was going to get to do that just yet.

Yawning a little, sitting in Kumo’s lap, leaning against him with his arms wrapped around me tightly, I closed my eyes and waited for the snake to show up.  _ If… if she’s not here in the next five minutes, I’m leaving… _ I thought with another yawn.

“Are you tired?” Kumo murmured, his arms tightening around me just a little, but I didn’t mind. Smiling lightly, I nodded my head and purred, nuzzling against him.

“Yeah,” I whispered back before finally deciding to open my eyes and I looked around. Everyone was here, from Ite to Banira; no one has questioned why Ite and the other two are here, though, but I think that’s only because Odori, Akatsuki, and Banira seem quite content with them around. Even if Miryoku and Sukai are still a little edgy around them. I wasn’t though, and I guess you could say it was because I was expecting something like this to happen eventually, I just thought it’d happen a little sooner, though, rather than two months after what had happened.

Smiling, I closed my eyes again and settled back once more, listening as Miryoku spoke, “Where in the hell are Sukai and Hana?” she grumbled and Akatsuki huffed.

“I don’t know, but I’m getting annoyed,” she admitted and I cracked an eye open, snorting when I saw her lean against Ite, a look of annoyance upon her face that didn’t belong with the smile of contentment when Ite hugged her from behind. “They were the ones that called us here on a free day, anyway,” she added and I chuckled tiredly. That was another reason no one questioned it: because it seemed that all three had finally found the love they deserve, just as I have with Kumo.

It was only a few minutes later when Sukai came through the doors of the café with a piece of paper and a bright grin. Hana had followed behind her, still as shy as ever and I offered the dolphin a smile that was almost immediately returned.

“Guess what!?” the snake waved the paper around and we all tried getting a look at it, but it was truly pointless at this distance. I made a small noise in question and received a few giggles from Hana and Banira when I yawned again, though I paid them no mind. “I won the drawing contest I entered!” she squealed and the girls all looked at each other in excitement. Though, if I’m completely honest, I have to say-

“No way!” Miryoku grinned.

“That’s great!” Odori laughed.

“What’d you win?” Banira questioned.

“Tell us!” Akatsuki pleaded.

-I am so confused…

Sukai only laughed in return, walking over to us, her eyes wide and bright and sparkling, something that was new and not entirely unwelcome. “We get to go on a cruise to the Dobutsu Isles! All of us!” The reaction was immediate and soon the café was as noisy as it would be if it were open and filled with customers.

As the girls talked and laughed and squealed, I shook my head with a small smile and turned my head to look back at Kumo. The vampire only smiled back at me, kissing my forehead before allowing me to rest my head back on his chest again. Grinning to myself, I couldn’t help my thoughts,  _ a vacation from all of this sounds nice… _ smirking now, I closed my eyes and let out a small chuckle once more,  _ I guess another adventure awaits us... I only wonder what will happen next. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Just like the really short prologue, it's also really short epilogue, but you know, that's how most epilogues work, right? *grins* Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading the story and I'll have you know that I am currently working on the second book!
> 
> To the Dobutsu Islands we go, yes? *winks*
> 
> Until next time, my little doves~!
> 
> ~ D.C.


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